ARTIST STATEMENT

As a child, I sometimes sleepwalked, and this feeling of being both here and not here at the same time became the basis of my artistic world. In this state, familiar reference points lose their clarity and meanings lose their definiteness.
The main themes of my works are the boundaries of reality and perception, fragility and temporality. I’m interested in the moment when an object or an image still retains recognizable features, but begins to transform, to dissolve.

I work with images of elusive beauty, with shadows that may turn out to be someone's silhouette, with things that are about to disappear.
Each work is a door, ajar just enough to see the darkness behind it, but not enough to know if it is empty.
Through painting, drawing and mixed media, I create a space where the viewer can feel both an observer and a participant in this melancholy journey.


BIO

An Viaznikova is a contemporary artist who captures the boundaries of reality, the fluidity of perception and the fragility of existence. In her works she combines meditative aesthetics with conceptual depth, creating visual narratives that balance on the edge of the material and illusory.
She was born in 1990 in Izmail, Ukraine. Graduated from Contemporary Art course, Higher School of Economics (2019), Tour of Modernism: from French Avant-Garde to American Pop Art and Beyond, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2020), Art and Gender course, University of Melbourne (2021). 

An uses a variety of media in her projects, from soft textile sculptures to immersive multi-layered painting and drawing.
She has participated in international exhibitions including “Conversation on Corporeality”, Moscow, “The Art of Water”, James May Gallery, USA and Miami Art Week, Wynwood. Her work has been published in magazines such as Art Hole Magazine, Ekphrasis Magazine. Also one of her works was nominated in Mellow Art Award, Tokyo. An's works are in private collections in France, Spain and others.
She lives and works in Novogrudok, Belarus.

Education & Artistic Training
Course: Sexing the canvas: Art and Gender, University of Melbourne, 2021 
Course: Tourist Modernism: from Frensh Avant-garde to American Pop Art and Beyond, 2020
Course: Contemporary art and ideas (lectures), MOMA, 2020
Course: History of Design (lectures), Open Education (HSE), 2019
Course: Contemporary Art (lectures), Open Education (HSE), 2019

Awards, Grants & Residencies
2021: Nominated for the "Mellow Art Award]", Tokyo].

Collections
Private: Held in private collections in Spain, France, Germany, Japan, and others.

Publications & Media
Please See Me, Aceptance, 2024.
Humankind Zine, Issue 4: Duality, USA, 2022.
Envision Arts Magazine, Volume 8, 2022.
Artbaazar, interview, 2021.
EKPHRASIS MAGAZINE, Winter, 2021.
Issue 15, Polemical Zine, 2021.
Artvesty, Moscow, 2020.
FlipMedia, Winter Cherry, 2020.
Art Hole Magazine, Issue 4, London.