Naila Hazell
London, United Kingdom
Contemporary figurative artist Naila Hazell was born in 1981 and grew up in Baku, Azerbaijan. She was taught by renowned Soviet social realism painter Boyukagha Mirzezade while studying fine arts and getting her MA at the Azerbaijani Fine Arts Academy.
Naila’s practice revolves around the representation of moments and feelings frozen in time by a sweeping brushstroke. Affected by a difficult history involving personal losses and abusive dynamics, Naila started deconstructing the mechanisms involved in interpersonal relationships. It is here that the series ‘Embracing and Repelling’ is born. Different directions of the same journey, different sides of the same coin. Scrutinising any close relationship Naila unveils a universal truth: with great love and affection often come significant frustration and traction. With a frequently dramatic exaggeration of facial cues, Naila displays with brilliant clarity the feelings shared by the sitters, whether it’s joy, fear, passion or rage.
Naila has had numerous solo and group shows in Baku and now, with her studio based in West London, she is continuing her work and exhibiting in the UK.
