S H O W S
To Belong
A new show by Anastassia Zamaraeva
Saturday, June 21, 2025, 6pm to 9pm
Opening Reception with the artist
June 21- July 3, 2025
Exhibition and Show
View the Show Catalog (.pdf)
To Belong
To belong is an exploration of the different gates we pass through to get to a place we know and where we are known.
Much of my work stems from a life-long search for ‘home’ — for a place or a feeling that signifies belonging. My childhood was defined by a number of relocations; by the age of thirteen, I had lived in three different countries. All of those places feel simultaneously like home and away. That in-between feeling shaped how I relate to the world, never fully rooted, always slightly shifting.
Through the lens of masks, I explore what it means to try on different identities. Some masks bring us closer to who we are, others allow us to explore who we’re not or who we might wish to be. Each piece in the exhibition holds something that opens a portal to belonging, be it food, memory, a link to place, or a connection to other people.
Belonging is inherently relational. The reminder that I am left with, after completing this body of work, is the importance of connecting to our bodies, as they are our first and ultimate home.
I believe the desire to belong and to see ourselves reflected in others is a universal one. I hope that visitors find this connection with the pieces on display and share in the collective, shifting experience of being human.
- Anastassia Zamaraeva, 2025
All in Me Maks
11” x 8.5” x 2”
MEET THE ARTIST
Anastassia Zamaraeva is a London based sculptural ceramic artist. She was born in Russia and spent her early years in Canada before relocating to the UK with her parents at age 12.
Anastassia began working from a home studio in 2020, which developed her inward gaze and introspective approach to her practice. Being a self taught artist has allowed Anastassia the freedom to work in a way that is intuitive to her, without prescribed ideas about right and wrong.
Anastassia has grown an international group of collectors and exhibited in a number of shows around the UK. In 2023, she received commissions from Underbanks Studios and Arc (Arts for Recovery in the Community) in Stockport, UK to develop new bodies of work. In the same year, she was shortlisted for the Emerging Maker Award at the International Ceramics Festival in Aberystwyth, Wales. Anastassia’s work has been written about in FAD magazine, Colossal and used as an example on the CBC television show ‘The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown’.
Anastassia holds an MA in Art Psychotherapy and is a practicing art therapist. She facilitates a weekly therapeutic art studio group for adults with mental health difficulties. Her work as an art therapist has had a profound influence on her art practice, which now rests on the meeting point of art and art therapy.
