In her formative years, Shahnaz Aghayeva eagerly explored materials, tested techniques, and persistently asked herself: “what else can I use?”. Today, she starts working only when both the idea and its realization are fully formed in her mind. Hours of preliminary reflection immerse her in complete isolation from the external world. The creative process becomes an alternate reality, where no movement is arbitrary.
Her creative method is grounded in a nuanced understanding of the working process, wherein the material emerges alongside the idea. Through sustained experimentation across diverse media, she has developed a rigorous approach that leaves little to chance: each of her pieces results from a continuous dialogue between concept, form, and technique.
A journey to Georgia, following an educational residency at Yarat Contemporary Art Space in Baku, marks a pivotal moment in Aghayeva’s artistic development. She traveled there to print large-scale cardboard engravings. While in Georgia, she met the artist Vakhtang Megrelishvili, who introduced her to the technique of aluminum etching – now one of the central methods in her practice. Unlike traditional printmaking that relies on copper or zinc, aluminum proved more adaptable to her artistic needs.
In traditional etching, a full-scale drawing is first prepared and then transferred onto metal. Shahnaz, however, deliberately refuses to follow the traditional method. She finds that preliminary sketches drain vitality from a piece, as the essential energy has already been invested in the drawing. Instead, allowing the process to remain direct and unmediated, she chooses to work directly with the needle on the metal plate. The plate is then immersed in acid, which reacts with the aluminum, and the depth of each stroke is determined by exposure time. After cleaning, ink is applied and a trial print is taken. In this way, every stage remains immediate and responsive, preserving the vitality and spontaneity that she seeks.
Aghayeva frames her practice not as a monologue, but as an ongoing dialogue. She believes art should not remain distant from the viewer – it can and should be touched. In this sense, tactility becomes an integral language in her practice: a single touch can convey the essence of a piece. As she explains, “I create for the person who lives today. The lifespan of my works equals the lifespan of my viewers”. Her approach underscores that art must remain alive, responsive, and contextual, emerging through continuous exchange among idea, material, and human presence.