b. 1981, Baku, Azerbaijan
Contemporary British artist Naila Hazell was taught by renowned Soviet social realism painter Boyukagha Mirzezade while studying fine arts and getting her MA at the Azerbaijani Fine Arts Academy. Hazell 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. A figurative artist, working mainly in oil, she's also expanding her practices with different media for some of her future conceptual art projects. Hazell is preparing work for a solo exhibition within the next year. The extraordinariness to be found in her work is that her themes hold many stories, her unassuming ‘moments' are linked to ordinary human life experiences, but which can contain messages about deeper realities within life, and offer an acceptance of who we are.
Artist Statement
Naila Hazell’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, Hazell 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. Scru-
tinising any close relationship Hazell unveils a universal truth: with great love and affection often come significant frustration and traction. With a frequently dramatic exaggeration of facial cues, Hazell displays with brilliant clarity the feelings shared by the sitters, whether it’s joy, fear, passion or rage. Hazell’s vision of painting the psychological and emotional states of individuals, particularly focusing on the weight of suffering and the complexities of mental health. For Hazell, Art has always been a powerful medium to communicate internal experiences that are difficult to express through words. By entwining these emotions in Hazell’s paintings, she opens a space for dialogue between the viewer and the subject, allowing for a shared experience of suffering, healing, or introspection.