I would use the bursary to fund a new project in Mexico, expanding my practice of working with found photographs and memory archaeology into an entirely new cultural and geographical context. This represents a crucial step forward from my previous work with British and post-Soviet imagery.
This project would fundamentally advance my practice by testing whether my methodology for excavating personal and cultural memory translates across different contexts.
The Dover Prize’s emphasis on experimentation aligns perfectly with this ambitious leap. My previous work has established a strong foundation with British and Eastern European imagery, but I’ve reached the point where I need to discover if my approach to memory, place, and found imagery works universally or is culturally specific.
The final exhibition in Darlington would bring this international research back to a UK context, creating dialogue between Mexican family histories and British audiences, exploring how we all relate to images of lost time and unfamiliar yet universal domestic moments.
This award would enable a significant evolution in my practice, moving from working with familiar cultural contexts to engaging with entirely new forms of historical and visual material, ultimately expanding both the geographic and conceptual scope of my work.
My project would culminate in a significant exhibition in Darlington featuring large-scale paintings based on Mexican family photographs, bringing genuinely international contemporary art to the area. The work’s focus on found family images makes it accessible while maintaining conceptual depth.
I’m particularly excited about developing a robust public program around the exhibition. This would include artist talks about the research process, workshops exploring found photography and memory, and community sessions where local residents could share their own family archives. These programs would create genuine dialogue between my international research and Darlington’s own stories.
Beyond the immediate impact, I’d document the entire journey —from Mexico research to final presentation — creating valuable content that showcases Darlington’s role in supporting ambitious artistic projects. This positions the area as a place where significant contemporary art happens, not just gets displayed.
My practice centers on excavating lost histories through found photographs, which I enlarge and transfer onto large canvases before painting over them to insert my presence into scenes of vanished time. This process allows me to explore questions of memory, cultural displacement, and belonging by literally inserting myself into moments I could never have witnessed. I source anonymous photographs from flea markets, family archives, and antique collections, drawn to images that capture ordinary domestic life from different eras and cultures. The large scale of my paintings transforms these intimate family moments into portals where viewers can project themselves into unfamiliar yet universal scenes of lost time. My recent work has explored cultural displacement and the immigrant experience. “A Song of Unrequited Love to Britain” (2024, Rupturexibit, Kingston-upon-Thames) examined my complex relationship with British culture through found family photographs spanning the 1920s-1980s. Working as an outsider looking in, I used color, gesture, and touch to explore my feelings about this familiar yet alien cultural history. Another recent body of work, developed during my residency at Turps Banana (2025), involved inserting my representational body into British picnic scenes — spaces where, as an immigrant, you must be invited. This series captured the tension between the desire to belong and the impossibility of belonging, while resisting both geopolitical and temporal borders by claiming space in narratives never meant to include me.
Postgraduate degrees:
MA Painting, Royal College of Arts, London (2018-2021) – This intensive program focused on developing my painting practice and theoretical framework, culminating in my current approach to working with found photographs and memory archaeology.
MA Art and Space, Kingston University London (2012-2013) – This interdisciplinary program explored relationships between art and spatial contexts, which significantly influences how I think about inserting myself into photographic spaces and creating work that functions as portals.
Additional art education:
Certificate program in Fine Art, Paris College of Art (2014-2015)
Bath Open Art Prize, 1st place (2023)
Women in Arts United Prize, 8th place, USA (2023)
Contemporary British Painting Prize, longlist (2023)
Sir John Hurt & Swonders Art Prize, shortlist and exhibition (2023)
Significant grants and residency awards:
ArtWorks Open, Barbican Arts Group Trust – Solo residency award (2021)
Multiple fully-funded international residencies including Pilotenkueche Leipzig, Dukley Art Centre Montenegro, Art Residency Normandy, and Kunstarhuset Messen Norway
Other professional recognition:
Signature Art Prize, Painting Prize winner (2020)
John Moores Prize, longlisted (2020)
Castlegate Prize, finalist (2020)
Bridgeman Studio Award, shortlisted (2020)
Bankley Art Prize Manchester, shortlist and exhibition (2019)
Art Rooms Award, Group Show finalist award (2019)
Commercial recognition:
Zima Magazine Artist of the Month Award, Curator and Head of Jury (2024)
Collaboration with Burberry Social Project (2020)
Yes, I run Philosophical Steamship, an artist-led project that has supported over 400 international artists in securing UK Talent Visas. Having navigated this process myself, I provide guidance on portfolio preparation and application strategies.
This has created a thriving community that organizes exhibitions, studio visits, and collaborative projects. Members now exhibit nationally and internationally, making the network influential in the UK contemporary art scene.
Beyond visa support, we facilitate gallery introductions, mentorship, and create exhibition platforms. The project demonstrates how artist-led initiatives can have genuine impact while building supportive infrastructure that extends beyond individual practice.
No, I have not been directly commissioned by a public institution as an artist. This is precisely why the Dover Prize represents such an important opportunity for my practice. The requirement to premiere a final exhibition in Darlington would essentially function as my first significant public commission. I’m particularly excited about this aspect of the prize because working with public institutions and communities is a natural evolution for my practice. The opportunity to work directly with Darlington’s community and create something meaningful for that specific context feels like exactly the kind of step forward that my practice needs at this stage.
Yes, my work has been acquired by a public collection. In 2021, the Royal College of Art acquired my painting “Surgeons” for their permanent public collection.
This acquisition is particularly significant as the Royal College of Art maintains one of the UK’s most important collections of contemporary art, with works by alumni and artists connected to the institution. The painting “Surgeons” was created during my MA Painting program at RCA (2018-2021) and represents an important development in my practice of working with found imagery and inserting my presence into photographs.
Yes, my work has been extensively reviewed and featured across numerous art publications and platforms. Recent significant coverage includes a feature in Art Focus Now titled “Granova Wrestles with the Soviet Past” (https://artfocusnow.com/people/granova-wrestles-with-the-soviet-past/), which explored my approach to working with found photographs and post-Soviet memory.
I was profiled by Pilotenkueche during my Leipzig residency in “Temporal Echoes” (http://westside.pilotenkueche.net/katya-granova-temporal-echoes/), examining how my practice investigates historical photography and cultural displacement.
Zima Magazine published an extensive interview with me in 2024 (https://zimamagazine.com/2024/11/sozdat-situaciju-v-kotoroj-proizojdet-zhivopis-bolshoe-intervju-kati-granovoj/) where I discussed my methodology and approach to creating “situations in which painting occurs.” I later served as Curator and Head of Jury for their Artist of the Month Award.
Additional coverage includes features in Contemporary Art Keen Enthusiast, Fadmagazine, and various international publications including Artnet and European art platforms. Regional press has covered my exhibitions in publications like Islington Gazette, while online platforms including Artsy, Artrabbit, and New Exhibitions have provided regular coverage.
Dutko Galerie Paris(France)
Castlegate House Gallery (UK)
10/03/2025 – 29/04/202 Turps Banana Art Residency, London
1/11/2024-22/11/2024 Rupturexibit artist-run space, Kingston, UK
27/08/2024 05/10/2024 Dukley Art Centre residence, Budva, MNE
01/04/2024 – 30/07/2024 Pilotenkueche, Leipzig, DE09/
09/09/2022 – 20/10/2022 Barbican Arts Group Trust, London, UK
01/06/2022 – 31/08/2022 International Summer Residency Aschersleben GE
27/10/2020 – 01/12/2020 Art Residency Normandy, FR
21/07/2020 – 21/08/2020 Dukley Art Centre residence, Budva, ME
01/12/2016 – 27/12/2016 Kunstarhuset Messen residency, Alvik, NO
Email: katya.granova.studio@gmail.com
Address: Eliot Park 3A, London, SE137EG, GB
Local Authority: Lewisham
