Elina Gusarova (b. 1998) is a visual artist and researcher from Russia with a background in architecture and curating. Growing up in the vast landscapes of Siberia, Elina’s work explores the profound connection between humanity and the environment. In this connection she is particulary interested in the forces that create and transform communities: identity, and history. Through photography, archival research, textiles, and found objects, in the forms of artist books or installations, Elina engages with imagery that emerges at the intersection of knowledge and imagination.
For Elina, physical interaction with research material is important in process. In her current project, she working with Inconvenient heritage, focusing on the Kolyma region where her familial utopia confronts collective catastrophe of mass repression. By combining visual research with physical presence, she seeks to develop a language that can adequately address the past that remains marginalized in mainstream historical narratives and identity systems.
In 2020, she founded the contemporary art center “YADRO” in her hometown of Krasnoyarsk, where she actively contributed to the development of the local art community. Since 2023, she has been based in Moscow, pursuing her art practice and studies at the Rodchenko School.
Group exhibitions
2024 DARK MATTER / ONKAF gallery, New Delhi, India
2024 Heart is not stone / Museum center “Ploshchad Mira”, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2024 Seven / festival Earth of People / Levashovsky bakery / Saint Petersburg, Russia2024 Love from and to / Curator: Anna Malai / Typography I.D. Sytin, Moscow, Russia
2024 The Village That Never Sleeps / curator: Nicolas Oduro / CI Fabrika, Moscow, Russia
2023 The Other Side of the Pillow, The Samoobman art-space/ Moscow, Russia
2022 Taigart. Flickering on the Border, Museum Center Ploshad’ Mira / Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2022 Srez 2.0 (The Cut 2.0), Youth Artists Union / Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2021 I, SPACE, Kvadrat loft-space / Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Curatorial practice (selected)
2023
Exhibitions in The Industry gallery / Krasnoyarsk, Russia:
Following, Daniil Shkaruba personal exhibition, photography
Spring on Mira Street, Alexandr Romanov personal exhibition
Oort Cloud, Anna Reinhardt personal exhibition, ceramics
City O, group exhibition of architectural research
2022
point.origins, Kvadrat loft-space / Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Taigart. flickering on the border, Museum Center Ploshad’ Mira / Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Education
2023-pres. Rodchenko Art School (mentor: Elena Anosova)
2016-2021 Siberian Federal University, Institute of Architecture and Design (Architecture)
Awards
2024 Winner of the SCAN AWARDS in the “Work of the Year” category
2024 Winner of IV Grant for Artists and Researchers from The GES-2 House of Culture / Moscow, Russia
Other activities
2024 Participant in the contemporary art fair |catalog| / Sytin Printing House / Moscow
2024 Participant in the first Siberian contemporary art fair SCAN FAIR / “Kvadrat,” Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2024 Participant of the WIN-WIN fair, СCA Winzavod / Moscow, Russia
2023 Participant of the WIN-WIN fair, СCA Winzavod / Moscow, Russia
2023 Speaker of the lecture “Community management in the Art Community”, Museum Center Ploshad’ Mira/ Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2019- pres. Founder of YADRO Center of Contemporary Arts/ Krasnoyarsk, Russia