Aziza Shadenova b. (1989,Uzbekistan)
(BA) Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, 2011
I am a Central Asian artist of mixed Kazakh and Uzbek heritage, born in Uzbekistan in 1989 and now based in UK, where I have lived since the age of 16. My practice spans painting, photography, moving image, and installation, and is rooted in the complexities of identity, memory, and the perception of life - particularly through the lens of post-Soviet cultural upheaval and personal migration.
I describe my work as visual absurdist poetry. Much of my artistic inquiry draws on humour and absurdism as tools to untangle my cultural upbringing, navigate dysfunctional mental states, and explore the dislocation of immigration. Influenced by the twentieth-century avant-garde and the Theatre of the Absurd, I use these sensibilities to question what it means to belong, to remember, and to evolve within - and beyond - cultural frameworks.
At the heart of my work lies a continuous dialogue between the traditions of Central Asia and the influences of Western culture. Recently, my focus has turned to patterns and collage. The architectural motifs of Central Asia have become a personal language of belonging - a visual map through which I attempt to locate myself. In collage, I bring together the unpredictable, constructing new meanings from fragments of the past and present. This process mirrors my lived experience and invites reflection on how history is layered, distorted, or forgotten.
Ultimately, my practice is an exploration of thresholds - between East and West, past and future, sense and absurdity. As I navigate these intersections, I am always searching for what remains in the immediacy of the present. As I often say: “The challenge is to see beyond history and capture something that has been left in the NOW.”
E: az.shadenova@gmail.com
Solo Shows:
- Textures of grieving, HOP Projects, Folkestone, UK. 2018
- My Cocoon Tightens-Colours Tease, Ainalaiynspace, London, UK. 2022
Selected Group Shows:
- The Pleasure of Misuse - Dora House, Royal Society of Sculptors, London, UK. 2025
- Lining Revealed - A Journey Through Folk Wisdom and Contemporary Vision” - Mill6CHAT, Hong Kong, China. 2025
- Language Without Alphabet” - Private Institution, Paris, France. 2025
- I Swear I Saw That - Mathaf Museum of Modern Art, Doha - Qatar - 2024
- How to Hold Your Breath - Asian Art Biennial, Taichung - Taiwan - 2024
- Parcours - Asia NOW Art Fair, Paris - France - 2023
- Preconscious Landscape - AinalaiynSpace - London - UK - 2023
- Thinking Historically in the Present - Sharjah Biennial 15 - Sharjah - UAE - 2023
- Clouds & Power - MILL6CHAT - Hong Kong - China - 2023
- New Mythologies of Central Asia - Sapar Contemporary - New York - USA 2020
- Racing The Galaxy - Astana Art Show 19 - Palace of Independence - Astana - Kazakhstan 2020
- Post-Nomadic Mind - Focus Kazakhstan - Wapping Hydraulic Power Station- London - UK 2018
- Metamorphosis - TSE Gallery - Astana - Kazakhstan 2018
- The Return of Memory - HOME Gallery - Manchester - UK 2017
- In Search of the Present - EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art - Espoo - Finland 2017
- At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art from Istanbul to Kabul - Sotheby's - London - UK 2014
- IV Moscow International Biennale for Young Art - RuArts Gallery - Moscow - Russia 2014
- Winter: Poetics & Politics - Central Asian Pavilion - 55th Venice Biennale - Italy 2013
- At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art from Central Asia and the Caucasus - Sotheby's - London -UK 2013
Collections:
- LACMA, Los Angeles, USA
- Moving Image London, London, UK
- National Museum of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan
Artist Residencies:
- Protagonists - The Invisible Pavilion of Kazakhstan - IADA - 56th Venice Biennale
Thank you!