An artist applies unique processes and perspectives to challenge the rules of visual perception.
An artist applies unique processes and perspectives to challenge the rules of visual perception.
On a sunny day in 1991, 7-year-old Anastasia Samoylova MFA ’11 placed her favorite stuffed toy in a bright beam of light that flowed through her parents’ bedroom window. She stepped back and snapped her first photograph, capturing the beloved playmate in a warm glow. The sweet tribute was a glimpse into her artistic future.
The only child of blue-collar parents, Samoylova relied on creativity, curiosity and imagination to stay entertained in their modest Moscow home. Her favorite pastime was creating little houses from cardboard.
“I went from building cardboard homes because we couldn’t afford Barbie houses, to building environments and then eventually using that for my shows,” she said.
Samoylova studied environmental design at a Russian university where she photographed her own hand-constructed paper and cardboard models. Her shots grew so creative Samoylova’s mother secured a loan so she could buy her first professional camera, a Sony Cybershot 707.
“I was just the baddest ... There were reporters shooting with 3-megapixel (cameras), and mine was five, so I was getting some gigs immediately. That was definitely a major push for me.”
Positive feedback motivated Samoylova to create a portfolio, which landed her an assistantship at Bradley. “There are really fond memories,” she said of her time on campus. “I was the only graduate student in photography ... but the entire art department, they were so welcoming.”
Samoylova lives in Miami with her husband, Evgeny Samoylov ’08 MSA ’09, and son, Mark. Her work focuses on the environment and its representation in images. “FloodZone,” a book based on her ongoing photo project of coastal areas facing catastrophic changes due to rising sea levels, was published by Steidl in 2019.
“How do you make a home in a place that’s about to go underwater? Miami is painfully beautiful, but maybe it was never meant for human survival.” Development and tourism thrive in South Florida, despite rising waters that bring alligators and other wildlife attempting to reclaim their natural habitat.
“Breakfasts are homages. It started with me trying to get inspired by looking beyond the constructivist photography that I had been doing for years in Peoria. I would wake up, make myself a very simple breakfast, and have it with photo books — like a nourishment for your body and your soul.”
“I’m interested not in the actual landscape but the perception of landscape, realizing that a picture is never the reality.” Samoylova sourced copyright-free images online, printed them, and — linking back to her childhood pastime — constructed them into 3D collage sculptures, which she photographed. “One thread through my work is the environment and its representation. There’s always images within images.”
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