Bestiary (Latin: bestiarium vocabulum) is a compendium of beasts, made popular in the Middle Ages in
illustrated volumes that described various animals, often creatures the author or illustrator had never
seen. In the eponymous new body of work of ceramic sculptures and oil paintings by Dasha Bazanova,
we see these descriptions of supernatural and natural creatures. These beings—ranging from animals to
hybrid figures merging human and animal forms—are depicted in detailed portraits and moments of
repose, as if they were an illustration for a reader who is about to learn their secrets from an educated but
unreliable source.

Combining elements of Homer’s Odyssey, contemporary politics, and personal narratives, Bazanova’s
artworks become more than an assembly of images, but not a complete story either. Her paintings, which
are rendered on wood panels, are enclosed in sculptural ceramic frames with custom designs that evoke
the ornate borders of illuminated manuscript pages, but radiate sculptural weight with the narratives
within.

​

Through Bestiary, Bazanova explores the intersection of mythology, human behavior, and moral
ambiguity and confronts the tension between individual desires and collective human experience, inviting
audiences to uncover hidden stories, question their truths and reflect on the complexities of human
nature.

​

Dasha Bazanova is an international mixed media artist, born in Arkhangelsk Russia right before the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2011 she received her master’s degree in commerce and marketing at Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In 2012 Bazanova moved to New York where she earned an MFA at Long Island University (CW Post) in 2014. She currently lives in Ridgewood and works in Bushwick and Long Island, New York. She recently had solo exhibitions at the Spring Break Art Show / NYC 2022, and 2023. As Well as Space776 Gallery, NYC in March 2024.