Anya Kashina

Anya Kashina's practice is rooted in an investigation of perception, affect, and the instability of representation. Stemming from observational drawings and photographs, her paintings move beyond depiction to explore how perception and process transform what is seen. Through layering, stencilling, and repetition, images are gradually disrupted and destabilised. As Kashina explains, "I am interested in the point at which a recognisable image begins to shift, opening up space for ambiguity, association, and imagination. Repetition plays an important role in this process, not as a means of copying, but as a way of generating difference, allowing unexpected relationships and new forms to emerge."

Rather than presenting fixed meanings, Kashina's paintings invite viewers into an active process of looking. Forms appear and dissolve, surfaces oscillate between illusion and material presence, and perception remains in flux. Her practice embraces the interplay between intention and chance, allowing unforeseen marks and interactions to shape the direction of each work. Painting becomes an event rather than a predetermined image, where meaning remains open and shifts through the encounter between artist, material, and viewer, activating the imagination through ambiguity and uncertainty.

Anya Kashina was born in Yaroslavl, Russia, in 1993 and moved to the UK when she was six years old. She lives and works in London. She holds a BA in Fine Art and History of Art from the University of Leeds (2015) and an MA in Fine Art from City and Guilds of London Art School (2025). Recent shows include RA Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, London (2026); Between Us at Soho Revue, London (2026), Selected Paintings (solo presentation) at The Royal Society of Arts, London (2026) and All Paradises, S&T at JDJ Gallery, New York (2024). Her works are in private collections in the US, UK, France and Russia and she is a resident artist at The Bomb Factory in Marylebone, London.