Mariia Kotliarevska was one of Padalka’s most devoted students and is considered the most conscious adherent of Boichukism. Her preferred techniques were woodcut and linocut, which she began practicing in Ukraine among the first artists. However, after the repression and elimination of leading representatives of Mykhailo Boichuk’s school in 1937, facing mortal danger, she was forced to distance herself from Boichukism and continued her career as a graphic artist.

According to her son Mykhailo, during World War II and the Nazi occupation, the family survived only because Mariia Kotliarevska performed ritual inscriptions on German soldiers’ graves, as no Germans could write in Gothic script.

In 1946, Kotliarevska was sentenced to seven years in prison for “anti-Soviet activity.” She was rehabilitated only in 1952. Despite these hardships, her passion for art never waned.

Kotliarevska’s work is characterized by originality of imagery and plasticity of thought, an emphasis on monumental expressiveness of silhouettes, dramatic contrasts of black and white in linocuts, richness of tonal shades, flexible linear rhythms in woodcuts, and velvety texture in lithographs. In book design and ex libris, her work demonstrates refined graphic skill, decorative elegance of lines and strokes, and the harmonious combination of visual and typographic elements.

In 2016, the artist’s son, Mykhailo Kulbak, donated over 80 works by Mariшa Kotliarevska to the Kyiv State Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design named after Mykhailo Boichuk for permanent preservation.

Her works are also held in the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Dnipropetrovsk Art Museum, the Dresden Art Gallery (Germany), and other collections.