Art exhibition: Valeria Azovskaya - Blooming under pressure

Description

Photography has long been my safe ground, a familiar lens for observing, capturing, and making sense of the world. A supportive foundation is essential when you first begin to create, providing the base needed to find your path. This exhibition marks an unfiltered point of shift in my journey as a visual artist. I am stepping away from familiar territory to explore painting and handcrafted techniques, using my photographic work not as a final destination, but as a starting point. Transitioning into a new medium comes with pressure, uncertainty, and no guarantees. Yet, when the drive for change and creative development takes over, being uncomfortable becomes the new normal. Growth requires learning to inhabit that unpredictable space, first with acceptance and later, hopefully, with confidence. The artworks on this wall reflect this exact process. To force myself out of my comfort zone, I gave myself a strict brief and deadline. I am using the pressure of this exhibition to create new work, directly from my photographic starting points. Without this self-imposed urgency, it would be too easy to stay where it is safe. Both completed and unfolding, these pieces represent a live experiment, a space where photography transforms into paint, and where both the visitor and I encounter the unexpected together. About an artist: Valeria Azovskaya is a designer and visual artist based and working in Finland, Helsinki, where she has lived and created for over 14 years. Her journey with photography began at age twelve, starting with her grandfather’s film camera and continuing with her first digital camera, purchased with her earliest earnings. Her artistic practice centers on theme-driven exploration, capturing moments of transformation, quiet dialogues, and evolving landscapes, whether urban, natural, or internal. Drawing on her professional background as a learning designer, she views art as an interactive space for discovery, investigating how we adapt, transform, and make sense of both external environments and our inner worlds. *** Kallio Library Viides linja 11 00530 Helsinki 09 310 850 53 facebook.com/kirjastokallio