Artist Statement
Anna Chobotova (b. 1979, Republic of Karelia, Russia) is a photographer and visual artist based in Moscow. Her practice explores the elusive — that which fades in time and remains unnoticed (memory, everyday life, natural cycles, the existential experience of a person) — and transforms it into visual poetry through collage and the transformation of photography into a graphic image. Primary media: photography, collage, lithography, artist’s book, video installation.
In 2025, she was named among the top 100 photographers in the “Leica 100 Years” project. Her leporello artist’s book “Motyolek” (The Moth) was presented at the NIZINA Fair at the Moscow Museum (2024) and was acquired for the project’s library collection. Her collages were featured at the “Niches” Festival (ARBUZZ Gallery) and published by a Parisian collage club. She holds a PD in Arts and Cultural Management from the University of Manchester.
Her works are held in private collections in Russia, Finland, France, Germany, and China.
Artist Statement
My area of interest is the elusive — that which fades in time and remains unnoticed: memory, everyday life, the archive, natural cycles, the existential experience of a person. My artistic intention is not to document loss, but to transform it into visual poetry: through collage and the transformation of photography into a graphic image, I seek to create a space where the disappearing can be seen anew. My method is the position of an attentive observer who does not interfere with reality. I gather visual material in urban and natural environments, and then through photomontage, the erasure of details, and reduction to rhythm and form, I transform it into a graphic image.
Personal exhibitions
2022
“Walking in Paris”, MBU TO “KUZMOLOVSKAYA DSHI"/Saint Petersburg
2015
“Disappearing Shadows”, Karelian State Philharmonic/Petrozavodsk
2012
“Letters from childhood”, Fotonerds Gallery,/Joensuu, Finland
2011
“In the Land of Angels”, Karelian State Philharmonic/Petrozavodsk “Sensuality”, Gallery “Grain"/ Petrozavodsk
2010
“In the Land of the AnnaKids”, Puppet Theater of the Republic of Karelia/Petrozavodsk
2009
“Moulin Rouge: The Mirror” /Petrozavodsk
Group exhibitions:
2025
“Interference Field” installation, Art Garden Gallery, Saint Petersburg
2024
the collage exhibition of the Parisian collage club Earth Dance/ Paris
the collage exhibition PHOTOPLAY
'Rezh da Klej' fest “Nichese”, Moscow, ARBUZZ Gallerymuseum of Moscow.
Mobile shelf of zines and photo books of the Nizina project.
Pilot project of Zines and the author’s book “Paper Stories” , Petrozavodsk
2020
“Breaking the Kalevala Codes” Russian Center for Science and Culture, Helsinki +Estonia+Lithuania+ Budapest
2019
“Opening the Kalevala codes”, Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Karelia/ Petrozavodsk
2017
Monocle, a photo exhibition based on the results of the All-Russian photo contest dedicated to the monocle lens/ K. A. Timiryazev Library
2011
“Author-time”, Industrial History Gallery/Petrozavodsk
2010
“The time of the day.OnegaTraktorny LOFT project, Cultural Initiative Center/ Petrozavodsk
Education
2026
Yulia Pavlova’s “Project Photography” course
2025
Yulia Pavlova Memorial Laboratory
2008-2024
Author’s courses, master classes by leading Russian and foreign photographers (Studio Harcourt (Paris), Magnum Photos, Mark Fearnley (London), Leica Akademie: Alan Schaller, Alexander Medvedev, Andrey Chezhin, Igor Sakharov.
2006-2007
Academy of International Cooperation, international diploma with a degree in photography
2004 -2005
The University of Manchester, PHD in Cultural Management
1996-2001
Karelian State University Pedagogical University, Faculty of Foreign Languages (Finnish, English)
Exhibition posters
