Lace, Land, and Linen: Maria Yiannikkou's Printed Worlds
For Maria Yiannikkou, textiles are a way of holding onto the past while shaping something entirely her own. A designer and block printer working from her garden shed in North London, Maria creates handprinted fabrics that reflect a deep connection to both her Greek Cypriot roots and her English upbringing. Her work draws on domestic life, natural forms, and the inherited stories that shape who we are.
After ten years at The World of Interiors magazine, Maria stepped away from editorial work to care for her two young daughters. Creativity returned unexpectedly - sparked by the story of Virginia Lee Burton and the Folly Cove Designers. Moved by their story, she picked up a pencil for the first time in fifteen years. What began at the family dining table - drawing late into the evening, carving lino blocks, experimenting with natural dyes - soon became a deeply rooted practice. A new rhythm of making emerged, woven around the structure of family life.
Cyprus Village, hand block print on linen. Maria Yiannikkou.
Her latest collection is inspired by Cyprus, the island her parents left behind as teenagers following the 1974 Turkish invasion. Maria grew up hearing vivid stories of lost villages, intricate lacework, fig trees and olive groves, all passed down in fragments of memory. In 2003, when some of the borders reopened, she was finally able to visit the places she had imagined since childhood.
Lefkara Lace, hand block print on Linen. Maria Yiannikkou.
A return trip with her own daughters years later gave new shape to those impressions and inspired a series of handprinted designs. One depicts village life; another is based on the detailed geometry of Lefkara embroidery; a third draws from the ancient Roman mosaics found across the island. Each is hand-carved and block printed onto natural linen, forming a quiet, tactile tribute to both place and family.
Earlier works like her Woodland Animals collection are now part of Jean Monro’s permanent range at Turnell & Gigon. Designed in the early days of her practice, these prints honour her English heritage and are full of character and warmth: foxes, hares, deer and birds captured in motion, echoing the countryside of her childhood.
Deer, Deer. Hand block print on linen. Maria Yiannikkou. Now part of Jean Monro’s permanent range at Turnell & Gigon.
What links all of Maria’s collections is a grounded sense of home as an evolving idea shaped by memory, loss, belonging, and care. Her prints remain rooted in real places, real stories, and the rhythm of a life lived slowly. Whether evoking the sun-drenched hillsides of Cyprus or the damp quiet of an English forest, Maria’s work invites reflection - on where we come from, what we carry, and how we choose to make it visible.
We caught up with Maria for '5 Minutes with a Friend', to hear more about the inspirations behind her work:
Portrait of Maria Yiannikkou
Maria, what is your first memory of a textile?
My first memory of a textile is hearing about how my grandmother, and the other women in her village in Cyprus, would cultivate silkworms to make silk once a year. As a small child, I found this story captivating and magical. The tradition is thought to go back to the Byzantine era. The villagers would set aside hibernating silk eggs in the winter, and in the spring they'd warm the eggs to hatch the worms. The worms would then be placed in a bundle of dry thyme, reeds and mulberry leaves, where they would eventually weave a cocoon. At this stage, hot water or air was used to stop the worm from becoming a moth and exiting the cocoon. The cocoons were gathered up and placed in a sack, until the silk maker arrived in their village. The silk maker heated the cocoons in a cauldron, unwound them, and then looped the silk on a wheel to make silk thread, ready for weaving. Then the villagers would use their looms to weave dresses, bed sheets, and make douries for their daughters.
Can you put into words what you love about textiles?
I love the human stories behind the textiles. I love process, tradition, culture, pattern, symbolism and meaning.
Maria's Studio Shed at her home in North London.
Where is your most inspiring place to create?
A few years ago, my husband and I bought 2 flat pack potting sheds and built them next to each other at the bottom of our garden in North London. His & hers. I block print here, where I can see squirrels running along the fence, cats jumping into our garden from next door, and the odd fox eyeing up our chickens!
Byzantine Ship and Waves, hand block print on linen, Maria Yiannikkou.
What has inspired you recently?
Last year my husband, 2 children and I spent our Easter holiday in Cyprus. I'm a Greek Cypriot and hadn't been back there for 20 years. We stayed with cousins on both sides of my family, and took a trip to the north to find my parents' villages, as well as to other parts of the island. It was a rich, deep and moving experience, and when we got back home, I immediately started to create a Cyprus collection inspired by our time there.
What is your most cherished textile and why?
A set of hand woven silk bed sheets made by my beloved grandmother.
Maria's blocks on the wall of her studio shed.
Where did you learn your craft?
I'm a hand block printer but I'm not formally trained. When my first daughter was born, so was my creativity! I always loved drawing but left it behind when I started working. One day, whilst at my desk in the editorial department of The World of Interiors magazine, I came upon the story of the Folly Cove Designers. This collective of mainly women designers and block printers ignited something in me, and I took up lino printing for the first time. I bought a beginners set of lino cutters, some lino, a couple of bottles of block print paint, lots of paper and just gave it a go. I've been doing this ever since!
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All images courtesy of Maria Yiannikkou