My path in art began with a deep connection to nature. Just as plant roots search for stability, I was searching for an inner sense of grounding. Over time, I realized that my work is not about nature itself, but about memory through nature. I am drawn to its traces: the feeling of a familiar place, a sense of belonging that emerges within an unfamiliar landscape, an image that remains even as the memory itself gradually fades.
For much of my adult life, I have lived between different cultures and countries. This experience taught me that home is not always tied to geography. Sometimes it survives in the image of a tree, the scent of a plant, a fragment of landscape, or an inner connection to those who came before us.
This is why birch trees, plants, and fragments of the body appear throughout my work. I do not seek to represent nature, but to uncover within it traces of origin, memory, and belonging. For me, plants are living witnesses of time, where personal history intersects with the memory of place and culture.
Today I work primarily with gumoil printing and photography because I am interested in the process of image emergence itself. The image appears gradually, transforms, disappears, and returns. Memory operates in much the same way: it is never fixed or complete.

I believe that art can hold what cannot always be articulated through language. Through the image, I preserve a connection to what seems lost, yet continues to exist as a trace, a sensation, and a form of presence.

ALENA KHOKHLOVA

Born in 1987 in USSR (Russia).
Lives in Moscow and Bali

Education
2023     Higher School "Sreda Obucheniya", Practices of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia

           International School of Art Therapy, Art Therapy: Healing Trauma, Moscow, Russia

2022    Institute of Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology, Methods of Transpersonal Art Therapy in 
            Psychotherapy and Counseling, Moscow, Russia

2018     Atelier5, Florist School and Centre for Creative and Experimental Vegetation Design  
            by Peter Hess, Basel, Switzerland

           Floral Design by Gregor Lersch School , Bad Neuenahr, Germany

Solo Exhibitions

2026       Inner Cultural Code, Sika Gallery, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
2025       Portals leading to the Origins, Lineage, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
2021       Language of Flowers, Art Centre "Inforest", Guangzhou, China

Group Exhibitions
2026       Exhibition Project SVOYASY: "Traditions of the Future", State Historical Museum (GIM), Moscow, Russia
2025       Exhibition “Russian Toy: Symbol. Image. Tradition” Zaryadye Museum, Moscow, Russia
2023       Lampu International Art Festival, Nuanu, Bali, Indonesia
2022       Qatar International Art Festival, Qatar, Doha
               International exhibition "Hypnos", Venice Biennale, Palazzetto Pisani, Venice, Italy
               Art Exhibition "Lace", Russian Spiritual and Cultural Orthodox Center at the Russian     
               Embassy in France, Paris, France
2021       Contemporary Art Exhibition "Botanical Comfort", Art Centre "Inforest", Guangzhou, China
2019       Flower Expo China 2019, Guangzhou, China

Awards
2023 2nd Award “Best of the show”, International Photography Awards 
2021 Talent Prize Award, 3rd FLOWER International Juried Art Competition
             Honory Intangible Cultural Heritage Ambassador, Botanical Comfort

Residencies
2025 - 2026 Devfto Printmaking Institute, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Bibliography
2023 «IPA Book 2023: International Photography Awards». Group Inc, Farmani
                Independently published

Articles and Reviews
2022        Shkabardnya N. "Animals with Floral Character". Flowers Magazine, December
                «Animals with Floral Character Created by Russian Artist Alena Khokhlova».
                Thursd, 14 September [online]
                Khokhlova A. "Spring in China". Flowers Magazine, March
2021        Shkabardnya N. "Multicolored Happiness". Flowers Magazine, July
                Khokhlova A. "In Forest". Flowers Magazine, June 
                Khokhlova A. "Celebration in Red". Flowers Magazine, February
2020        Shkabardnya N. "Orchid Rain". Flowers Magazine, October
                Shkabardnya N. "Floral Tea Party". Flowers Magazine, August
                Shkabardnya N. "Dialogue with a Florist: Interview with Alena Khokhlova".

                Flowers Magazine, July