olya
salimova
olya salimova is a Russian American visual and performance artist whose multidisciplinary practice explores themes of transformation, time and memory, and poetics of material. drawing upon a diverse background including degrees in philology, english, BFA and an MBA, as well as experiences ranging from translation and project management to bodybuilding, her work manifests through a fluid interplay of media and methods. in her practice, salimova treats the studio as a site of "gardening," where ideas are sown, propagated, and allowed to evolve, much like bees tending to a hive. her long-standing use of beeswax—harvested from repurposed beekeeper frames—and other found materials such as wood, leather, soil, and steel reinforce her commitment to materiality as a vessel of memory, ecological relationships, and embodied knowledge. her figures, described as being in states of formation and disintegration, invoke both personal mythologies and visionary future narratives, embodying her self-described stance as a “neo-mythic apiphilic archi-materialist”.
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). recent group exhibitions include What Immigrants Bring, Agitator, Chicago, IL (2025); Elemental Impact, Epiphany Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL (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); Don’t Mind The Thing, Wedge Projects, Chicago, IL (2021), among others. salimova 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. 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); Middle Fork Ranch, Lions, CO (2023); Consecrations, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL (2021); Work, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL (2021); Body Into Dill, private residency at Brooklyn, MI (2021); and Muscle Memory, Brooklyn, MI-Chicago, IL (2019). salimova 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
Public Sculpture
2024
Flight of Butterflies, Nature Museum of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Performance
2025
Earth, Trinity Colledge, Palos Heights, IL
2024
Rememberings, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
2023
Origins, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
Middle Fork Ranch, Lions, CO
2021
Consecrations, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL
Work, SITE Galleries, Chicago, IL
Space Travel, online
Body Into Dill, residential space in Brooklyn, MI
2019
Muscle Memory, Brooklyn, MI-Chicago, IL
Community work
2021
Beeswax wrapper workshop, campus of 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