FEATURED ARTIST OF THE MONTH
January 2021

leyla rzayeva

Artist Statement  

History and memory inform my visual language as a painter. My process begins with painting directly on  the canvas using a sketch or a photograph. Observational color studies done in nature frame the basic  elements of my paintings and inform their subject.  

Nature is the theme throughout my work.  

Oil paintings on canvas and linen use carefully positioned areas of bright color and figurative outline to  communicate memory, symbol, and living ritual. The portraits and scenes recreated in my paintings are  often sketched from obscured fragments of original murals, manuscripts, and published research in  Islamic art and architecture. Representations of dancers, musicians, plants, and animals are set against  the pigmented background referencing specific works of literary and visual significance from the regions  of Azerbaijan and West Asia. Understanding of applied arts and cultural artifacts of West Asia has given  me the possibility to integrate nature, personal memories and land into my work. 

–LEYLA RZAYEVA