Maryana Soldak was born on 1st January 1974 in Lviv, Ukraine. She studied at the Lviv National Academy of Arts from 1999-2005 and holds an MA in Sacred Art. She was drawn to icons because they immerse her in the world of the divine. Her work is influenced by Byzantine iconography and Ukrainian iconography from the fifteenth to sixteenth Centuries.

Maryana also produces a variety of sacred art inspired by iconography, including traditional icon-copies, close to traditional icons, and sacred art inspired by traditional icon painting. To date, Maryana has produced over five hundred icons that are displayed in churches, monasteries and private collections in the Ukraine, Germany, Canada, Poland and Kazakhstan.

Due to the War in Ukraine, Maryana came to Ireland with her family on 30th March 2022. Since moving to Ireland, she has had icons exhibited at the festival of Ukrainian Culture in Cork (10th August 2022/14th October 2022) and at the Art of Ukraine Exhibition to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day (Hunt Museum, Limerick) on 24th August 2023.

Maryana recently completed an icon of the Mother of God from Knock (Ireland's national shrine) after making a pilgrimage there. She lives with her husband, a Greek Catholic priest, and two youngest sons. Her two eldest children reside in the Ukraine.