KSENIA SEMIROVA

UK-Based

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

Ksenia Semirova’s practice explores the transformative potential of embroidery, manipulating humble materials — threads, beads, plastic, and metal elements — while investigating cultural, historical, environmental, social, and political contexts. Through uncovering, enhancing, and interweaving these notions with a personal perspective, Ksenia creates complex, layered outcomes that invite reflection.

Working with a range of traditional hand embroidery techniques — including Luneville, pearl embroidery, and goldwork — Ksenia develops personal artistic responses rooted in observation and engagement with multiple layers of meaning. Her pieces aim to evoke emotions ranging from curiosity to joy, encouraging the viewer to engage both intellectually and sensorially.

Ksenia sees embroidery as a medium that creates bridges between personal experience and the viewer’s interpretation, offering works that foster emotional and cultural reflection. Her creative process balances a respect for heritage with a contemporary outlook, focusing particularly on the exploration and reinterpretation of traditional practices. Above all, her work reflects socio-cultural dynamics and visualises personal interpretations of these processes through the medium of craft.

BIO

Ksenia Semirova is a textile and embroidery artist based in Hove, UK. Originally trained in industrial design, she transitioned to textiles after recognising that mass production and concept design did not align with her creative goals. Seeking to create tangible, meaningful works for real people, she fully dedicated herself to craft and fine art.

Ksenia graduated with Distinction from the MA Textiles programme at the University of Brighton in 2022. During her studies, she combined her experience in visual research with a focused exploration of Russian pearl embroidery — an ancient national technique that was largely lost during the twentieth century. Her work aims not only to preserve traditional methods but also to reinterpret them in a contemporary context, blending them with various embroidery techniques such as Luneville embroidery.

Ksenia continues to develop her creative practice through the production of fine art and textile-based works, private commissions, and collaborative projects. She also shares her expertise through online and in-person teaching, helping others to engage with embroidery as a serious, evolving medium.

EXHIBITIONS

2025

March, 2025 | Material World, Hailsham, East Sussex
March, 2025 | The 62nd Annual Woodlawn Needlework Show, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
February-March, 2025 | Textile Art, Calderdale Industrial Museum, Halifax

2024

December, 2024 | HERE + NOW, Oxmarket Contemporary Chichester, Sussex
November-December, 2024 | Handcrafted by the World, SoShiro London
October, 2024 | No Place Like Home, Queen Street Gallery Neath
September, 2024 |Woven, Fox Yard Studio Stowmarket
September-October, 2024 | The Design Nation Presents…, Hub Sleaford
July-September, 2024 | Atelier OPEN 2024, Atelier Beside the Sea Brighton
July, 2024 | A Blacket of Stars, Fronteer Gallery Sheffield
June, 2024 | The Helvet Art Fair, The Roseate Hotel Reading
March, 2024 | Contemporary Textile Fair, Landmark Art Center London

2023

December, 2023 | Textile Fantasies, Open Gallery Halifax
November, 2023 – January, 2024 | English Riviera Winter Open 2023, Artizan Gallery Torquay
October, 2023 | Art Expo Ljubljana, Slovenia
October, 2023 | Artizan Women’s Exhibition, Artizan Gallery Torquay
September, 2023 | The Great Sublime, Fox Yard Studio Stowmarket
August-September, 2023 | Stronger Together Summer 2023, Women United Art movement
August, 2023 | Folksy Summer Exhibition
August, 2023 | Summer, Open Gallery Halifax
July, 2023 | Small Textile, Fronteer Gallery Sheffield
May-June, 2023 | Urban Jungle, Fronteer Gallery Sheffield
May, 2023 | Spring, Open Gallery Halifax

Stitch by Stitch Exhibition Online

2022

July, 2022 | Truth to Materials, Ditchling Museum of Art+Craft
June, 2022 | Graduate Show, University of Brighton

AWARDS

December, 2023 | 7th FLOWER International Juried Art Competition, Teravarna (TALENT PRIZE AWARD)
March, 2023 | The Stitch Festival, London (Evening Wear Award)
February, 2023 Colour Your Life, NEC Birmingham (Shortlisted Artist)

ART PUBLICATIONS

Bloom by Forget Me Not-Press, 2023
Floral Vol. 30 Special Edition by Collect Art, 2023

[thb_image_slider thb_center=”true” thb_pagination=”” thb_navigation=”true” images=”2869,2870″]