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Signatrue stlye

|Maria Pavlova
Mary Pavlova with her original Signatrue stlye abstract text-based artwork

Around that time, I joined Yana Mef's "Signature Style" course. When it came time to choose a theme for the final project, I immediately knew that this wall had to be my subject. Since the course was all about discovering our unique voices, I chose a clear, intentional phrase to mark a true turning point—a line between my art "before" and "after" the course. 

 

Pic 1. In the studio

The journey was far from easy. I started with some early sketches in my new style, but honestly, I didn’t like them. Inventing a completely original artistic language in a short time was a real challenge, and the pressure was intense. Yet, that struggle led to a breakthrough. While searching for the right letterforms and composition, I drew inspiration from Zaha Hadid’s dynamic late-period architecture and my passion for Slavic Cyrillic calligraphy, especially Vyaz.

 Mary Pavlova sketching the concept for her original text-based art Signatrue stlye

Pic 2. Sketching

My sketches improved dramatically, capturing new direction and energy. I built a small-scale paper model to understand the typography's spatial weight, scaled those proportions up, and brought the final piece to life.
Paper model used by Mary Pavlova to develop the original text-based art Signatrue stlye
Pic 3. The paper model

Pic 4. Pieces of puzzle
Pic 5. My tools
Pic 6. Final look

The final artwork features the intentionally scrambled phrase "авртоский стлиь" (with plans for a companion piece reading "signatrue stlye" soon). Even with the letters mixed up, our brains instinctively recognize the patterns and reconstruct them as "авторский стиль" and "signature style." To me, this effect became a powerful metaphor for the creative journey. Just as the mind rearranges letters to form words, I had to sift through creative chaos to discover my own artistic identity.

Mary Pavlova holding her original text-based artwork Signatrue stlye in a hallway
Pic 7. The Final Piece

What if a signature style isn’t something you find,
but something you create?

I explored various techniques and experiments, hoping to figure out what connected my interests in letters, architecture, deconstruction, and visual puzzles. It took me a while to realize I wasn’t actually looking for something new. Instead, I was noticing connections that had always existed.

Everything changed when I stopped searching outside myself and started looking within. I saw that my interests weren’t separate—they were all part of the same drive: to make art that invites people to interpret and see familiar things in a new way.

That’s what led me to the phrase "автроский стлиь" (“signatrue stlye.”)
At first, it looks like a mistake. But our brains quickly read it as "авторский стиль" (“signature style”), filling in the familiar pattern. This effect, called typoglycemia, became a metaphor for my creative process for this artwork.

Just as the brain finds meaning in scrambled letters, I was discovering connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.

In the finished piece, the phrase nearly vanishes. The letters stretch, overlap, and take on architectural shapes, inspired by Zaha Hadid and Slavic vyaz calligraphy, in which letters are both symbols and visual forms.

Instead of reading the text, the viewer moves through a space.
This piece shows the moment when my intuitive search turned into a clear system, when text became architecture, and when separate parts formed my own artistic language.

It also plays with the idea of 'before and after': two frames mark the transition. Everything started as scattered lines moving in the same direction, eventually becoming something monolithic and whole now.

I can’t unsee a flower blooming here—it happened by accident. I didn’t plan it.

And what do you see?

 Signatrue stlye original abstract text-based artwork in blue and beige by Mary Pavlova displayed in her studio
Pic 8. In the studio


Now, it’s up on my wall—a daily source of focus and inspiration.



If this artwork caught your attention, you can [explore the artwork] or follow my process and latest artwork on [Instagram]

Want something for your own workspace?
I create custom text-based artwork designed to spark curiosity, shift perspective, and keep ideas moving. [Tell me what you have in mind →]

Explore more
[Signature Artworks] · [Early Artworks] · [Instagram] · [About Mary]