Artist Biography

Born and raised in Moscow, capital of the former Soviet Union (now Russia), Tatyana Markovtsev immigrated to the U.S. with her family almost 30 years ago, settling just north of Chicago. An engineer by trade, she had never imagined that one day her works would find universal appeal and touch the hearts of tens of thousands of people from over 150 countries who visit her website, follow her social media pages, and view her works at international art shows. Being a self-taught artist, she discovered a strong desire to draw in her late 50s and began her journey to mastery, completing over 500 works since.

Tatyana masterfully uses India ink on cold press paper and acrylic paint on canvas, as well as mixed media, digital, and vector art. Since debuting with her first solo show at Chicago’s Edge Gallery in 2012, Tatyana has participated in numerous domestic and international exhibitions and art fairs, became a three-time finalist and award recipient at a major international artist competition, illustrated over 20 books published in different languages, decorated several commercial spaces and cafés with her art (in Chicagoland and Paris), and developed the logotype and label for a U.S.-based sake brand. She continues to inspire many artists to reinterpret her signature lines in their own media, including glasswork, mosaic, jewelry, sculpture, body art, and even culinary creations.

In 2015 Tatyana enlisted the help of her son Max Mark, a former global advertising executive and creative director, to launch feeltheline.com and make available a limited-edition giclée print collection of selected artworks to a global audience. The following year they collaborated to establish the FeelTheLine brand, which, alongside her art, focuses on designing and producing ready-to-wear clothing items, various accessories, greeting cards, and home and living products, all offered through their website.

Tatyana’s organic social media following has been steadily growing, with the @feeltheline Facebook page, today reaching over 92,000 followers and 80–100K weekly active participants.

For four years in a row (2016–2019), Tatyana participated in ART Revolution Taipei, first as a finalist and later as the Gallery Award recipient of Asia’s largest International Artist Grand Competition, organized by the Taiwan International Contemporary Artist Association. During that time, she also exhibited her works in several prominent Taiwanese galleries.

Additionally, her art has been successfully used by medical professionals from various countries to assist in the treatment of PTSD and depression (Hungary and the USA), while scientists in Israel are currently using her works to study differences between the capabilities of the human brain and AI/deep learning algorithms in terms of recognition and perception.

In 2022 Tatyana and the FeelTheLine brand entered the world of crypto art by launching their first NFT collection, the Apple Core Art Club (AC|AC), on OpenSea (https://opensea.io/collection/applecores).

Tatyana’s first public sculpture, Dancer, co-designed with her son Max in 2024, was permanently installed at Crystal Park in Hudson Valley, New York, in May 2025. The 15-foot metal piece now stands gracefully in a natural forest setting, becoming a striking presence for visitors passing through the park.

In 2025 Tatyana began a landmark East–West collaboration with Master Zhu Juncheng, one of China’s leading contemporary embroidery masters and the founder of ONE NATURE EMBROIDERY (Yi Ran Xiu) Studio in Yangzhou. Together they are transforming selected works from her minimalist Feel The Line series into handcrafted silk embroideries of exceptional refinement. Master Zhu’s innovative approach to layered silk shading, micro-stitching, and tonal blending allows Tatyana’s fluid, modern linework to gain new dimensionality while remaining true to its essence. Each piece is created through a meticulous process that unites her contemporary visual language with centuries-old Chinese embroidery traditions, resulting in artworks that carry the spirit of both cultures in a single composition.

This ongoing partnership has evolved into a cross-cultural master co-creation project supported by Feel The Line and Beijing Precious Embroidery Hall. Limited editions, large-format commissions, and documentary materials offer collectors a rare opportunity to experience her work in a new medium that is both traditional and forward-looking. The collaboration reflects Tatyana’s lifelong interest in universal visual language and her belief that art can bridge distance, history, innovation, and human experience.

Tatyana’s newest 2025–2026 collection expands her signature minimalist language into more lyrical, emotionally charged compositions that explore balance, inner dialogue, and the quiet energy of nature. The works retain her hallmark clarity of line while introducing deeper symbolic structure and more intricate movement. Several pieces from this series are being considered for translation into delicate silk embroidery, where subtle shifts of thread, sheen, and layered texture can reveal new dimensions within her forms. This ongoing evolution reflects her commitment to pushing the boundaries of simplicity and invites viewers to experience familiar motifs through fresh mediums and perspectives.