Nadezhda Dozmorova

You describe yourself as both a puppet maker and a collage artist. How do these two creative practices influence each other in your work?

These two practices are closely intertwined. When working on a collage, I create characters — their images, personalities, and moods. These discoveries inspire me to transfer them into three-dimensional space: this is how a doll is born. In turn, the process of creating a doll suggests new ideas for collages — color combinations, unusual textures, and compositional solutions.

Nadezhda Dozmorova | Fly Away | 2026

Your early education in fashion design gave you experience with materials, construction, and tools. How does this background appear in your collages today?

The training gave me knowledge of the principles and rules for combining the textures of different materials, creating harmonious arrangements of geometric shapes and various ornaments, and, most importantly, correctly combining colors and their shades with one another.

You say that collage gives you a feeling of freedom, like a bird in flight. What does this freedom mean to you personally?

My work constantly keeps me within the framework of the current project. As a creative person, I sometimes begin to feel tired of this. Collage, however, is true freedom — a space without boundaries or strict rules. In the process of working with collages, I step away from everyday life and find myself alone with a sea of possibilities. Stacks of magazines, scraps of paper, color swatches — all of this becomes a palette of spontaneous emotions and impressions.
I remain face to face with this chaos of materials, switch off logic, and simply begin to create. When I work, I do not follow any plan; I listen to my intuition. My hand chooses a cutout on its own, my eye catches an unexpected combination of colors, and my mind dissolves into the process. This state is like flight: you do not think about the trajectory — you simply fly, trusting the wind of inspiration.

Nadezhda Dozmorova | Little Spruce | 2023

Many of your characters seem to exist between the human, animal, and imaginary worlds. How do these characters come to life?

My collages are not born from a plan — they grow from within, like unexpected memories or fragments of dreams. Everything begins with intuition: I do not think through the composition in advance, I do not make sketches, and I do not choose colors according to color schemes. I simply listen to an inner voice that says: “This shade, this texture, or this fragment of an image — this is exactly what is needed.”
I take out old cutouts, leaf through magazines, move the fragments around — and suddenly something catches my eye. It may be the curve of a line, a combination of tones, or a barely noticeable pattern. I set these “finds” aside, and gradually, from scattered elements, a unified image begins to emerge.
Each collage is a captured moment of intuitive search. I do not always understand right away what the final work will become or what it will tell the viewer. But, as a rule, the resulting image truthfully reflects what is living inside me at that moment — what I feel.

Nadezhda Dozmorova | Space Story | 2026

Your works often feel playful, surreal, and slightly mysterious at the same time. Is this contrast important for you?

Yes, it is absolutely important. It is precisely in the collision of the incompatible — lightness and depth, playfulness and mystery — that the very effect I strive to convey is born. For me, contrast is not just an artistic device, but a way to express the multilayered nature of the world and my own feelings. It allows me to create a tension that makes the viewer pause in front of the work, look more closely, and wonder: “What is happening here?”

Nadezhda Dozmorova | Thinker | 2026

You work mainly with analog collage. What attracts you to paper, scissors, and physical materials rather than digital techniques?

First of all, I am drawn to the rustle and smell of paper, the tactile sensations. And also to the process of selecting materials itself: searching, comparing textures, and finding unexpected combinations. I love creating things with my hands.

Nadezhda Dozmorova | With The Breeze | 2024

What would you like viewers to feel when they meet your characters and enter the worlds you create?

I strive to create worlds and characters that evoke an immediate response in the viewer’s heart. First and foremost, it should be a feeling of tenderness — a gentle smile, a warmth in the soul inspired by something sweet and touching. And then, a sense of kindness: not instructive, but natural, like breathing. So that, upon leaving my mysterious world, the viewer carries with them a small piece of this light and looks at reality with a slightly softer gaze.