OLYA SALIMOVA
olya salimova is a Russian American visual and performance artist who treats the human body as a placeholder while using serendipity as an approach to art making.
the body as a placeholder means that the body is not only a personal portrait or an individual identity, but a vessel that carries larger experiences — memory, ecology, migration, labor, compassion, transformation, language, touch. the body becomes a site where the world leaves traces. it stands in for humanity, for the earth itself, and for histories that cannot be fully spoken.
serendipity in salimova's practice is the occurrence of unexpected encounters with the body but it is not pure accident; it is openness to collaboration with matter and circumstances. serendipity becomes a method of listening — to materials, to language, to the environment, and to the hidden relationships between bodies and the earth.
salimova's interest in the body lies in her previous bodybuilding career when she discovered her own body as a sculpture material and a site for transformation, compassion, and communication.
salimova draws upon a diverse background including degrees in philology, English, BFA and an MBA, as well as her previous experiences as translator and bodybuilder. her studio in Chicago is also a hub for other artists to congregate for conversation, share work, and collaborate.
outside her studio, salimova can be often found in her garden, tending to plants and bees, or building and repairing things for sustainable living.
salimova (b.1978, Vladivostok, Russia) earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2022, and a BA in Philology at Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia, in 2000. notable solo exhibitions include Arrival at Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, IL; The Cyborgs Undone, the Ghosts Came to Light, the Ancestors Control the Future, at the Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2024); and Beesworks, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL (2021). salimova's work has been shown at Expo Chicago (2024). her recent notable group exhibitions include What Immigrants Bring, Agitator, Chicago, IL (2025); Elemental Impact, Epiphany Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL (2023); MSA Select, Pam Miller Downtown Art Center, Lexington, KY (2023); Form Within: Unveiling Hidden Aesthetics, CSI Project Space, Chicago, IL (2023); Dreamer Warriors, Detroit Artists Market, MI (2023); Concerning Landscape, Detroit Artists Market, MI (2023); Responding to Rhythms, Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL (2022), among others. salimova was commissioned a public sculpture by the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences in 2024. she is a recipient of the 2021 Fund Your Practice Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, and recently completed a 2023–2024 BOLT Artist Residency at the Chicago Artists Coalition, IL. salimova started performance practice as a WFF and IFBB competing bodybuilder (2007-2014). other notable performances include Earth in collaboration with experimental sound musician Jacob Artillery, Trinity Colledge, Palos Heights, IL; Rememberings with cellist Timothy Fawkes, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2024); Origins with Ále Campos, Juliette Morris, and Spencer Gale, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2023); Consecrations, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL (2021); Work, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL (2021); Body Into Dill, Brooklyn, MI (2021); and Muscle Memory, Brooklyn, MI-Chicago, IL (2019). salimova collaborated with photographer Lillian Heredia in a project And Our Bodies, Like Seasons, Come and Gone: Performance For Winter Corn, Brooklyn, MI (2025); and with Chuck Pringle in Excavations: Performance for Traveling Body, Raymond, MI (2023). salimova is a founder of 15ēlement artist collective. she currently lives and works between Chicago, Illinois and Brooklyn, Michigan.
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Solo
2025
Arrival, Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, IL
2024
Alma x CSI, ALMA, Chicago, IL
The cyborgs undone, the ghosts came to light, the ancestors control the future, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
2021
Beesworks, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL
Group Shows
2025
What Immigrants Bring, Agitator, Chicago, IL
2024
EXPO Chicago, Chicago, IL
2023
Elemental Impact, Epiphany Center for the Arts, Chicago IL
Works in Progress, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
Form Within: Unveiling Hidden Aesthetics, CSI Project Space, Chicago, IL
Alive, CSI Project Space, Chicago, IL
Dreamer Warriors, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
Seeds Of Change / Resilience, 22 North, Ypsilanti, MI
MSA Select, Pam Miller Downtown Art Center, Lexington, KY
Story Time, CSI Project Space, Chicago, IL
Concerning Landscape, DAM, Detroit, MI
Little But Bold, CSI Project Space, Chicago, IL
2022
Responding to Rhythms, Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL
By Degrees, 3D4D, Chicago Sculpture International, Chicago, IL
2021
COME|BACK, SAIC Galleries Wellness Center, Chicago, IL
Don’t Mind The Thing, Wedge Projects, Chicago, IL
New Work 2021, SAIC Galleries, Chicago, IL
Making It, SAIC Galleries Wellness Center, Chicago, IL
Import/Export Exhibition, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Where We Are, SITE Galleries, SAIC, Chicago, IL
2020
Art Over COVID, online
Art-In-Place, CNL Projects+Terrain Exhibitions, MI-IL
Commissions/Public Sculpture
2024
Flight of Butterflies, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, Chicago, IL
Performance And Photography Projects
2025
And our bodies, like seasons, come and gone: performance for winter corn, Brooklyn, MI
Earth, Trinity Colledge, Palos Heights, IL
2024
Rememberings, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
2023
Origins, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
Excavations: performance for a traveling body, Raymond, CO
2021
Consecrations, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL
Work, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL
Space Travel, online
Body Into Dill, Brooklyn, MI
2019
Muscle Memory, Brooklyn, MI-Chicago, IL
Bodybuilding
2007-2014
WFF and IFBB finalist, Russia and international
Community/Ecology Workshops
2021
Beeswax wrapper workshop, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Grants
2021
Fund Your Practice Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Lectures/Artist Talks/Engagements
2021, 2025
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2024
The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2022
Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL
Residences
2023-2024
BOLT Residency, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
Social Practice
2024-present
15ēlement artist collective