Welcome to another episode of Women United ART PODCAST. In this conversation, we’re joined by Marish, a New York–based visual artist whose journey is a powerful story of reinvention, persistence, and creative courage. Born in Czechoslovakia, raised in Ukraine, and now building her career in New York, Marish began her artistic path with no contacts, no shortcuts, and no guarantees—only vision, discipline, and an unshakable drive to create.

Marish is known for her striking bas-relief oil portraits that merge realism with surreal, emotionally charged worlds. Using airbrush techniques and unconventional materials such as Preciosa crystals, epoxy, neon, and layered surfaces, she creates works that explore identity, inner states, and spiritual presence. Over nearly a decade in New York, she has shown her work at major international art fairs including Art Basel Miami, Spectrum Miami, and Artexpo New York, and recently celebrated a major milestone with her first solo exhibition.

In this episode, we trace Marish’s journey from her early life in Eastern Europe to the realities of building an art career in one of the most competitive art cities in the world. We talk about the courage it takes to start over, the evolution of her distinctive visual language, and how she developed a practice that feels both technically daring and deeply introspective. Marish shares candid insights into navigating submissions, fairs, and visibility, as well as the challenges and rewards of committing fully to an artistic life later in life.

This episode is an honest, inspiring look at what it means to build something from the ground up—layer by layer—through resilience, experimentation, and belief in your own vision. Whether you’re an artist in transition, dreaming of a new beginning, or looking for real-world insight into carving your own path, this conversation offers both clarity and encouragement.

MARISH

www.artmarish.com

IG: @artmarish.nyc

This show is brought to you by Women United ART MOVEMENT, a global platform highlighting women in the arts through a wide range of opportunities such as solo and group exhibits, annual art prize for women artists, and quarterly publication.

www.womenunitedartmovement.com
@womenunited_art_movement
@womenunited_art_magazine

In this episode of Women United ART PODCAST, we welcome Lidia Russkova-Hasaya, a Georgian-Russian interdisciplinary artist and director whose work transcends the boundaries of form, space, and geography. Through sculpture, sound, video, and immersive installations, Lidia transforms personal history, displacement, and emotion into tangible, sensory experiences — a language she calls “Emotional Architecture.”

From the luminous door of Portal during the opening of the Venice Architecture Biennale to the introspective Homesick and Unfolding, Lidia explores belonging, vulnerability, and transformation, turning materials like glass, neon, and metal into metaphors for resilience. Drawing from her theatre background and personal experiences of denied citizenship, she creates worlds where fragility becomes strength and architecture becomes a vessel for emotion.

Join us as we dive deep into Lidia’s journey, exploring the intersections of theatre, memory, and materiality. We discuss her unique approach to post-geographic spaces, the role of sound in her immersive installations, and how art can serve as both therapy and collective ritual. Lidia shares insights for artists navigating emotional authenticity, conceptual ambition, and the thresholds of creativity across disciplines and borders.

Whether you’re an artist, curator, or simply curious about how art can translate the most intimate human experiences into space and light, this episode invites you to witness how emotion can be built, not just felt.

LIDIA RUSSKOVA-HASAYA

www.lidia.art

IG: @saintlidia

This show is brought to you by Women United ART MOVEMENT, a global platform highlighting women in the arts through a wide range of opportunities such as solo and group exhibits, annual art prize for women artists, and quarterly publication.

www.womenunitedartmovement.com
@womenunited_art_movement
@womenunited_art_magazine

In this episode of Women United ART PODCAST, Mona Lerch sits down with Samara Couri — a London-born, Hawai‘i-based artist whose luminous mirror paintings blur the boundaries between self and world, mythology and material, art and empathy.

Samara’s journey has taken her from the studios of London’s City & Guilds Art School to the vibrant natural landscapes of Honolulu, where her work continues to evolve in dialogue with light, movement, and reflection. Painting directly onto mirrors, Samara transforms them from objects of vanity into portals of awareness — inviting viewers to quite literally see themselves inside the artwork.

Together, we explore how her practice bridges the figurative and the spiritual, from cinematic influences that shaped her early experimentation to her current explorations of Akua, the Hawaiian deities she interprets as living reflections of nature’s cycles and human interconnectedness. Samara shares how her experiences of migration, identity, and belonging have informed her art, and what it means to build empathy and self-recognition through visual reflection.

We also talk about the beauty and technical challenges of painting on mirrors, the vulnerability of immersive installations, and the role of mythology in healing our relationship with the Earth.

This conversation is an invitation to look closer — at art, at nature, and ultimately, at yourself.

🎙️ Tune in to discover how Samara Couri turns reflection into revelation.

SAMARA COURI

www.samaracouri.com

IG: @samara_couri

This show is brought to you by Women United ART MOVEMENT, a global platform highlighting women in the arts through a wide range of opportunities such as solo and group exhibits, annual art prize for women artists, and quarterly publication.

www.womenunitedartmovement.com
@womenunited_art_movement
@womenunited_art_magazine