Aliya Bodnar Kent, United Kingdom
I am a contemporary artist based in Kent, working primarily in watercolour. My practice begins with a question: what becomes possible in the spaces between? Through familiar places and everyday environments, I explore moments when different realities meet without cancelling one another, and when established ways of seeing give way to unexpected possibilities.
What becomes possible in the spaces between? This question sits at the heart of my artistic practice, although it took me some time to recognise it. For years, I found myself returning to railway stations, harbours, historic streets and ordinary urban spaces. I was drawn to these places without fully understanding why. Gradually, through painting, I began to recognise that it was not the places themselves that held my attention, but what happened within them. A railway station contains the possibility of both arrival and departure. A harbour can hold movement and stillness in the same moment. A historic building remains part of the present while carrying traces of lives and circumstances that have passed. These are not contradictions I seek to resolve. I am interested in what becomes possible when different realities meet without one having to replace the other. This enquiry has gradually shaped the direction of my work. Rather than documenting particular locations, I return to familiar environments to examine how our experience of them changes through attention. A place we think we know can become less certain when we begin to notice the relationships within it, the things that remain, the things that are changing, and those that are not immediately visible. My practice develops through four interconnected chapters: Thresholds, Coexistence, Presence and Becoming. Each approaches the central question from a different direction. They are not separate themes or collections of subjects, but parts of an ongoing investigation that continues to evolve through the work itself.
I work primarily in watercolour. It is the visual language through which I pursue these questions, rather than the subject of my practice. I do not begin with a philosophical idea and look for a scene to illustrate it. More often, the act of painting reveals something I had not yet been able to articulate. Writing has become a parallel way of exploring these discoveries, allowing me to return to questions that remain open after a painting is finished. I am not interested in offering a definitive interpretation of the places I paint. Nor do I want to remove the viewer from the familiar world. I am interested in what happens when we encounter that world with a different kind of attention, when what once seemed settled becomes open to another possibility. I do not paint conclusions. I paint the moment when another way of seeing becomes possible.
Artwork
Defined, Watercolour, 2026, £475
Not Yet, Watercolour, 2026, £800.00
Between departures, Watercolour, 2026, £475.00
Medway Queen: Light over the Docks, Watercolour, 2025, £800.00
Sailing stillness: Norfolk Broads in motion, Watercolour, 2025, £800
Mirror of the Past. Che, Watercolour, 2025, £400.00
Sleeping boats at sunset in the harbor, Watercolour, 2024, £350.00
Bird of paradise - nature’s bold elegance, Watercolour, 2024, £375.00
Hundred shades of green - an English Forest at dawn, Watercolor, 2024, £625.00
Exploring London landmarks, Watercolour, 2024, £425.00
Projects and exhibitions
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Solo exhibition `Heritage in dialogue: stories from Kent`04/09/2025 — 16/09/2025 `Heritage in Watercolour: Stories from Kent` was my solo exhibition in Rochester, Kent, held from 4 to 16 September 2025. Bringing together 33 original watercolour paintings, the exhibition explored familiar places, historic architecture, waterfronts and everyday environments through my evolving artistic perspective. The exhibition offered... [Read more] |
Halpern POP Gallery, Rochester, UK | Details |