Nik Maksimyuk (AFAB, genderfluid, any pronouce), based in Berlin, is a performer and multidisciplinary artist with immigration background. Nik works at the intersection of social critique, trauma research, and movement art, with different mediums including photography, video-art, painting, dance. Themes of systemic violence, invisible hierarchies and how experiencing it shapes people are main in their art. Nik has a degree in journalism (Moscow State University), specializing in photography. They worked as an oppositional political journalist and photo artist before relocating to Germany in 2017 due to repression against activists in the in so called "russian federation". Since then, they have continued their artistic and activist work as a freelancer, as well as volunteering with refugees as a translator and interpreter.

Currently Nik studies dance and physical theater, integrating movement into their exploration of trauma, power dynamics, and social structures. Their work focuses on anti-ableism—particularly sanism and the stigma surrounding invisible disabilities—anti-abuse advocacy, accessibility, and decolonialism, with a specific lens on russian settler-colonialism. Through their art they expose less-punishable forms of violence, such as exploitation, hypocrisy, manipulations and coercion, which disproportionately impact vulnerable women and queer individuals—especially immigrants, neurodivergent and disabled people of low social class. Mainly they base their work on their own experience of living as AFAB genderfluid, neurodivergent, panromantic, coming from a dysfunctional family and having an invisible illness.

Nik is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, English, and German. Their skill set includes research, investigation, writing, advocacy, concept creation, teamwork, movement art, documentation (photography, videography), and post-production.

In depth:

Photos - selfshot

All my life I was making art - different forms of art, but my topics were pretty much always the same. I oppose the traditional in art topic of transformation, as it is something avaible not to everyone (no matter what the mass culture tells us - it's not true). For many reality, instead of transformation, is disillusionment.

I was born in 1992 in the center of russian colonial empire - in Moscow. My parents were both immigrants - dad grew up in Ukrainian diaspora of Kazakhstan (his Ukrainian ansestors were deported there in early years of USSR) and mom - from southern part of co-called "russia", where indigenous folks - Tatars and Cabardians are mixed with russians and germans (result of czar emipe's politics), and she had Cabardian roots and a lot of relatives in Nalchik. Though not being actually russians, my parents adopted russian identities as it was considered prestigious, and tried to impose the same on me, even tho already since childhood I was leaning towards Ukrainian identity. 

Father left the family when I was 3, disappeared without a trace, so I grew up with two women - mom and grandmom. From the very childhood I learned, what is feminism for. My female caregivers were both very traumatized - and themselves abusive, as they knew no other way to raise children. I was a very sick child, which was making my caregivers mad, and their anger led to me having child psychosis. 

I grew up in 90-th - USSR already fell apart and new russian empire under control of Putin just started building, so there was relative freedome of speech and self-expression yet. I realised that I am not straight very early. Back then there was yet no law against it. I dreamed to become a journalist, as I was very good in investigation of things that interested me, always documented everything to the smallest detail, was sensitive to injustice and had zero tolerance to hypocrisy, wanted to discover the facts and make them known. However because of my severe and obvious communication problems everyone doubted very much that I will be able to work as a journalist. They just preffered to not call it autism, but find euphemisms, like "asocial", "hypersensitive" etc. I was assigned female at birth, and early autism diagnosis is mostly male privilledge.

In 2008 I started my education as a journalist in Moscow State university, photo department, my primary teacher was Vladimir Vyatkin. I started with photographing political protests, and after seeing how brutally they are suppressed and how activists are presecuted, I started supporting those protests, made friends with activists and became an activist. It was dangerous, even to work as just a journalist on political protest, you always were under a risk to be arrested or pressured in other ways. And even my family was receiving threatening calls because of my activism.

My practice as a photojournalist began (in 2009) in Literaturnaya Gazeta newspaper, but rather soon I switched to working with Novaya Gazeta, as their political alignment was much more defined and opposing the opressive regime. In summer 2010, together with my collegues from Novaya Gazeta, I was investigating (I was mostly photo-documeting) the conflict in Khimki Forest, where I also met activists from art group Voina, who were doing political street-art and performances, and from ex-members of which later the collective Pussy Riot was formed. They inspired me very much and influenced my path significantly.

In 2011 I continued working with Novaya Gazeta, art group Voina, non-commercial independent internet media Grani.ru, mostly photographing political protests and police brulity and art performances, a few of my photos were also published in Rolling Stone magazine (it's russian version). In 2012-2013 I mostly published on Grani.ru, and in 2013 I graduated, subject of my graduation paper was "Political photojournalism: moral, ethical and legal characteristics". Part of it was later published in Neprikosnovennyi Zapas (Неприкосновенный Запас) magazine, which is a part of a network of european intellectual magazines Eurozine, but is published only in russian language. 

In 2014, as Russian started invasion to the East of Ukraine and annexed Crimea, I was still working with Grani.ru and all our editorial supported Ukraine fully, and called this invasion and annexion a crime as it is, so the media was blocked by russian special forces, and we could not receive funding anymore. Novaya Gazeta with which I worked previosly was also under the risk of being prohibited, on the same reasons. All the independent media in Russia who were opposing the invasion had the same situation, all the protests were suppressed. In spring 2014 I went to Ukraine to make a photo report from Maidan square, where the protest camp was still standing. Before I already visited Ukraine a lot, as it's the land of my ancestors and I felt deep connection and had friends there. Apart from Kyiv, I also visited Donetsk, which was still part of Ukraine at that time, but the situation was alredy alarming. I was there with a group of journalists, including ukrainian and american ones. I made a report for Grani.ru with photos, videos and text. 

I did not see my future in Russian Federation anymore after that (I doubted it even before, but after annexion of Crimea it was absolutely clear I couldn't stay there no more). As I could not make my living with journalism anymore, I worked as a freelance photo artist, mostly shooting weddings and portraits. I thought of going to Ukraine, but my family member found a job in Germany, and I joined them in 2016. In Germany I continued working as photo artist and sometimes also as a performer, actress and model, and learning language parrallel to that, because my knowledge of german was not enough to work as a journalist yet. 

The next big change was in 2020 - lockdown. Public events were banned, and almost all my works was on public events, so I had to look for alternatives. The obvious thing was to perform online, via webcam, and as I already had some experience in acting and modeling (when I studied photography, many of my groupmates and teachers asked me to collaborate on their projects as a model, which I was doing with great enthusiasm, and I had a few acting gigs in Germany as well). Unfortunatelly soon I found out webcam performances involve a lot of coercion from the viewers to do things you are not comfortable with, and to produce certain kind of content. So I was looking for opportunities to quit this industry. This experience influenced my views and my art very much. I understood my potential of telling stories through my body, through movement, and started leaning to performance as a main medium, however I understood also the risks of using body as a medium when your body is standart feminine, because it can be objectified right away and the message you are trying to deliver will just not be percieved. Objectification is an obstacle for an artist. 

In 2020 I also became an apprentice of Yanka Smetanina, my art teacher, who was nominated for Kandinsky price. I shared a living space with Yanka and my job included things from photograping her works and making her website, to buying art supplies (and learning about them) and helping organize events like livedrawing classes. Also in 2020 I was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and it had big influence on how I perceive myself (as not an able person) and what for do I do art. 

In 2021, as lockdown ended, and I was not anymore in adult industry, I began working with Beyond Limits e.v. non-profit organisation as a manager and an artist. We created a space that merged an art-gallery and showroom with a cafe, and organized events like inclusive fashion shows. We worked with, among other designers, Aufaugenhöhe design, and other brands that make fashion for people with unusual bodies, for whom it is hard to find clothes that fit. In developement were also other projects that had to do with inclusion, for example guided tours for people on wheelchairs. The same year I worked with Untergeschoss der Pandora art gallery, also as an artist and manager. Since 2021 I also study dance, privately and at Berlin Dance Institute and Tanzfabrik open classes.

In 2022 I continued working with these spaces, but russian invasion to Ukraine interrupted everything. My girlfriend with her son lived in Ukraine, Odesa. They became refugees, and I was torn apart between helping them, participating in demonstrations to attract attention of german institutions to Ukrainian decolonial resistance, helping other rufugees and working in Beyond Limits e.v. I organized a charity exhibition to support Ukraine there, and after that quit and worked as volunteer with refugees from Ukraine. I worked with such organisations as Hauptbanhof Arrival Support, Ukr.Berlin e.v., QUARTEERA e.v., Ukraine-Hilfe Berlin e.v. and as a freelancer volunteer.

Mostly I was volunteering as an interpreter/translator, but also I was consulting people on any problems, helping fill documents, helping find their trains/commutions on train stations, looking for places for them to stay and offering my own space, making appointments for them and providing emotional support. I also became an apprentice of artist Alan Meyer, and was helping him with project "Diffusions", that had art-residency in the East of Ukraine, but with the start of full-scale invasion moved to Berlin, and in creative space ART DESPITE, where art workshops for refugee children took place and where people could donate for medical help in Ukraine and buy artworks made by children from the East of Ukraine whose families were affected by war. My work was mostly to translate between ukrainian and german people and to explain visitors what is the mission of the project, but also to do art workshops for children and for adults, help set up exhibitions and create photo and video content for social media. 

In 2023 I took long vacations for health reasons, due to the trauma I received in spring (sexual abuse) I was not functional. It was not the first sexual abuse episode in my life but this one was harder because it was done by a quite famous man, who has a lot of power and influence in the contemporary art world and who is also in feminist circles. In 2024 I was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder on top of bipolar disorder that I already had. Also I made experience with institutional mental health care, on which I reflect in my art and activism as well. I am still recovering, doing art projects and studying dance and choreography to the best of my capabilities.