Maya Hayuk: Beyond the Pattern

One of my favorite things about creating artist documentaries is getting to look beyond the finished work and meet the person who made it. For Kilroy Realty Corporation, we followed Maya Hayuk's installation at West 8th in Seattle from its meticulous beginnings through completion, eventually traveling to Brooklyn to spend a day with Maya in her studio. What began as a story about color and transformation became something much more personal.

Bringing Color to Seattle

Kilroy wanted West 8th to feel dramatically different from Seattle's famously gray surroundings. Maya's vibrant patterns offered exactly that—a bold infusion of color designed to transform the experience of the building for people both inside and out.

The installation was unusual for Maya. Best known for her murals and paintings, she worked with DPA Fine Art to translate her patterns into tile. We documented the painstaking process as the artwork came together piece by piece, then returned to photograph and film the completed installation.

Following the Story from Seattle to Brooklyn

Nearly two years after we began trying to coordinate an interview, we finally caught up with Maya at her Brooklyn studio. Spending the day filming her paint and talking about her creative process gave me an entirely new understanding of the work.

Maya and I clicked almost immediately. We're very different artists working in very different mediums, but the way we talked about creativity felt surprisingly familiar. And watch her hands in the film—they're almost an extension of her voice, constantly creating shapes as she speaks.

Looking Beyond the Pattern

I intentionally knew very little about the meaning behind Maya's patterns before our interview. I wanted to discover the work through her rather than arrive with my own interpretation.

At first, I wondered what I was missing. The patterns were beautiful and colorful, but I wanted to understand what existed underneath them. Why these patterns? What was the story behind them?

A Visual Language

As Maya shared family photographs and talked about her Ukrainian heritage, the artwork opened up. The patterns weren't simply beautiful abstractions; they were connected to tradition, history and identity.

That's one of the things I love about meaningful art: you can't absorb all of it in a single viewing. You come back, look again and discover something new.

Maya's work does that. And after spending the day with her, I realized Maya does too.

First you see something beautiful. Then you meet the person behind it. And suddenly you see something completely different.

Maya Hayuk: Beyond the Pattern

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