Artist statement

Self-reflection is always at the center of my artistic practice, usually my artworks are autobiographical. Psychology practice of the rewriting traumatic memories from the childhood got a great influence on the way that I’m thinking now about the reality in which I live in. My therapist says that there is no difference for the brain between the fake memory and the reality. Therefore we can trick ourselves in order to change. As a result I think a lot about the past. Is it real for 100%, or it is just our interpretation of reality? Is it possible to change the past through changing of memory about the past? That’s why I use my own background, important facts and stories from my childhood in my creative process. Sometimes I can describe my art as a visualization of the psychic processes.

People and the communities they make, fascinate me. We are all very different, yet very alike. How society and personality react to dramatic changes in the environment intrigues me to the highest degree.

I am also curious about the brain’s activity and the huge gap between archaistic thoughts (orthodox rituals that play a major role in our lives) and the progressive technologies we use in our everyday life. I find modern rituals observed by my contemporaries even more interesting.

My favorite techniques are drawing and embroidery. In the beginning, when I just got into the contemporary art, I tried various mediums such as installation, objects or performances. I have a background in traditional art, however grew to feel let down by the genre and did not draw or paint for a long period of time. Currently though, I am trying to combine my experiences and make projects using the visual art medium. I like contemporary hand drawn illustrations (Italian school) most of all, and I am currently experimenting with materials which may help me create art in the intersection between graphic art and embroidery.

Education

• Sreda Obuchenia (Moscow High School), Russia — Artists' workshops: Ivan Gorshkov, Arseny Zhilyaev.

• Free Workshops Art School at MMOMA (Moscow Museum of Modern Art), Russia — Contemporary Artist, 2018 — 2019

• The Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, St.Petersburg — Bachelor of Fine Arts, 2006 — 2011

• N. K. Roerich Art School, Secondary Professional Education, St.Petersburg, Russia — Basic Level Designer, 2000 — 2004

Exhibitions

2021

Workshop RUSSIAN STATE ART LIBRARY “Composition №…” (Moscow)

22 Gallery “Sweat and aloe” (Moscow)

22 Gallery “You may not fall asleep”(Moscow)

Gallery Na Peschanoy “Family Values” (Moscow)

2020

Gallery ARTBOX “Winter exhibition” (Saint-Petersburg)

The charity center Nochlezhka “Alternative reality” (Moscow)

Business center K29 “Пространство радости” (Vilnius)

2019

Gallery Na Peschanoy “Look at yourself” (Moscow)

Shopping center Ryady “OUT” (Vladimir)

Library 118, “Infinite need or the need of the Infinite?” (Moscow)

CTI Fabrika “FREE OFF” (Moscow)

2018

CCI Fabrika, “Koordinaty” (Moscow)

2017

Art Portrait Club Festival, “Digital image” nomination, 1st place (St.Petersburg, Russia)

St.Petersburg Union of Artists, “Youth of St Petersburg” (St.Petersburg, Russia)

2016

Shtei Mariot, Beit Bubot Gallery (Haifa, Israel)

Bio

Masha Neverova was born in 1985, in Leningrad, USSR. Her father is an artist, so art was a major part of her upbringing. She attended the Children’s Art School before continuing her studies at the N. K. Roerich Secondary art school, and finally at the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia where she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Her studies were in the field of classical art. Rather recently, she has become interested in contemporary art, thanks to her career which has led her to become a graphic designer and an art director. Her search for vocation lasted for a considerable amount of time until she accidentally arrived at a contemporary art exhibition, wherein she realized that all her skills were applicable in this field. She enjoyes creating aesthetically pleasing art that is based on new ideas. While working as an art director, her main focus was the generation of ideas as her department was responsible for the designing of corporate gifts. Her passion was the creation of products that can induce emotions while fitting into the context created by the brand. She enjoyed this role. During this work, she learned how to lead a team of creative people, how to manage brainstorming sessions and how to organize work in a department. In this role, her leadership skills, responsibility, flexibility and other related personal qualities were demonstrated.

After finishing her studies at the university (but before being inspired to persue Contemporary Art) she began to study academic vocal and attended a theatre school. She enjoys singing and has regularly practiced over the last 7 years. She also loves walking, the outdoors and therefore camping trips too. She is an experienced canoe pilot and has been hiking in Karelia (Russia), the Himalayas (Nepal), and in Galilee (Israel). She travels a lot and has visited a lot of contemporary art museums all over the world. One of her favourite experiences was a visit to MOMA in New York. She sometimes appreciates not being the most experienced authority in contemporary art, as every new museum feels like a wonderful new book, filled with unread treasures.

Between 2018 and 2019, she finished a free course in contemporary art at MMOMA (Moscow Museum of Modern Art). She really enjoyed this experience. She met a lot of young artists and curators and began to participate in contemporary art exhibitions. She has also attended intensive illustration courses at the British Higher School of Art and Design. Contemporary illustration is her second greatest passion. She has completed a lot of projects in her first three years, starting from a state in which she used the performance and installation mediums, avoiding drawing and painting work as it reminded her of her classical background.