Kristina Poliakova is a contemporary multidisciplinary artist living and working between Cyprus and Sanremo, Italy.

Working at the intersection of magical realism, contemporary painting, and material experimentation, she explores transformation, memory, and the invisible ways in which places gradually become part of human identity. Rather than depicting the visible world, her paintings reveal emotional landscapes where nature, symbolism, and materiality intertwine, inviting viewers to reflect on the subtle processes that shape identity over time.

Her current long-term artistic research project, The Geography of Belonging, investigates how memories, landscapes, cultures, and lived experiences become woven into our inner world. The project examines identity not as something fixed, but as a constantly evolving landscape formed through movement, encounters, and transformation.

Kristina’s multidisciplinary background spans graphic design, fashion, and theatrical costume design. She continued her education at the Polimoda Institute in Florence, where Renaissance aesthetics, craftsmanship, and material culture profoundly influenced her artistic language. Her years designing theatrical costumes continue to inform her fascination with textiles, lace, ornament, and the expressive power of fabric.

Today these elements appear in her paintings not as decorative details but as conceptual metaphors. Hyperrealistic representations of lace create subtle optical illusions, inviting viewers to question where physical material ends and painted illusion begins. Lace becomes a symbol of identity itself—woven thread by thread, just as memory, place, and experience gradually weave the complexity of human life.

Working primarily with layered acrylic painting, Kristina builds transparent surfaces that preserve traces of previous layers, creating visual depth while reflecting the way identity develops through accumulation rather than replacement. Her digital visual studies form an essential part of her artistic methodology, functioning as conceptual research before each painting begins.

Relocating to Italy and living between Italy and Cyprus profoundly transformed both her life and artistic practice. This experience became the catalyst for her ongoing investigation into transformation, belonging, and the invisible emotional landscapes people carry within themselves.

Her works are held in private collections across Italy, Cyprus, France, Germany, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, India, and China.

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