ANASTASIA
AFONINA
BORN 1995 IN MOSCOW, RU
BASED IN AMSTERDAM, NL
ANASTASIA AFONINA
________________

BORN 1995 IN MOSCOW, RU
BASED IN AMSTERDAM, NL
CV
ARTIST STATEMENT
Human Subject
Human Subject
CV
Human subject has been influencing my practice since the very beginning. Through my early paintings I have been making up mental portraits of distinctive personalities, as I painted their physical features. To this day, my work is an exposure of a character, though lately their stories are told in other mediums than painting. As a protagonist of my work I often use a loner, who struggles to exist in a society, where they could not find a place. Both a fictional character and a viewer could be loners. Therefore, a viewer too could be the main character in a setup environment of isolation. Why does loneliness interest me? I believe the state of eternal ache is familiar to all of us. At times of discomfort, we either adapt to it, by changing something within or resist by justifying ourselves in a global contest. In both cases, our consciousness changes.

I attempt to turn the most private of all experiences into an event that could be shared through an interaction. Despite the dramatic nature of my work, the majority of people find comedy in them.

Building experiences to be shared by different people has always been interesting to me.Dystopian literature had the biggest influence on my way of thinking during adolescence and remains a powerful source of inspiration today. The nature of social behavior, namely humanity's ability to adapt or resist massive obstacles fascinates me. I am interested in the structure behind public consciousness that consists of a plurality of individuals.

Radicalism and its manifestations are other important sources of inspiration for me.
In my projects, I research how humans express dominance, arrogance as ignoring points of view other than their own. Throughout my practice, I have always been using various media. When starting a project I first focus on a concept alone without figuring out technical aspects.

As the project is about to be produced I pick a medium that communicates best. Technology and the ways humans relate to it are especially interesting to me.

In the end, any work I make should invite viewers to interact with it. Perhaps, successful cooperation between a viewer and the message I sent is the most important for my work.
CV
CV
2013 - 2018
Bachelor of Fine Arts and Design
Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Amsterdam, NL)

2019
Make-up course at School of Arts
(Amsterdam, NL)

2017
Summer School
Het Vijfde Seizoen (Den Dolder, NL)
2021
HvA, MediaLAB Amsterdam, Guest Teacher
(Amsterdam, NL)

2020 - up to now
SpeakEasy Sessions, Video Editor, VJ
(Brussels, BE)

2019 - up to now
FramerFramed, Light Atelier and Kinder Atelier
(Amsterdam, NL)

2014 - up to now
Cofounder of Your own Planet www.snurk.travel
Educational Project & Travel Agency
Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Morocco

2019
De Player, Volunteer (Rotterdam, NL)

2018
«ijltjesdag / Day of Reckoning,
Assistant Director for Gideon van Eeden (NL)

2018
Janieck - 'Does it matter'
Assistant Director (NL)

2015 - 2016
Freelance Journalist at Discovery (RU)

2015
Freelance Journalist at 'My Planet' (RU)

2012
Vremena Goda, Assistant Curator
(Moscow, RU)
2020
This Art Fair (Amsterdam, NL)

2019
24H West "WOW Mistral"
(Amsterdam, NL)

2019
StartPoint Prize (Nominee)
Annual Prize for European Art Graduates,
Arti et Amicitiae (Amsterdam, NL)

2019
StartPoint Prize (Nominee)
Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp, BE)

2018
Graduation Show
Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Amsterdam, NL)

2017
Eye Museum 'Eye on Art'
(Amsterdam, NL)

2017
Lab 111, Y-event, Pitch, Screening
(Amsterdam, NL)

2017
Casco (Utrecht, NL)

2016
SSBA Salon 'Time Is the Fire in Which We Burn'
(Amsterdam, NL)

2016
Brakke Grond, 'Uncut'
(Amsterdam, NL)

2016
Stedelijk, 'BYOB' (Amsterdam, NL)

2016
Bunker0621 'Buffering' (Amsterdam, NL)

2014
Sane, 'Fruit', (Amsterdam, NL)

2012
MMOMA (Moscow, RU)

2012
Garage Gallery (Moscow, RU)

2012
'Live Art' Street Festival (Moscow, RU)

2011
Solo Exhibition at Clock-Face (Moscow, RU)

2007
MMOMA (Moscow, RU)

2006
MMOMA (Moscow, RU)


2021
Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, Guest Speaker (Rotterdam, NL)

Education
Work Experience
Exhibitions
Talks
2019 - 2020
WOW (Amsterdam, NL)


Residencies