Kadyrova works with tiles — her signature medium — as well as cement, foam, brickwork, natural stone, roof tiles, and asphalt, creating unique sculptures. She also paints with markers (project Flomorealism), creates collages, and works in performance art. The artist engages with local context, focusing on interaction with place, its history, and its people. Zhanna Kadyrova participates in various festivals and residencies, sometimes as an organizer, curator of artistic programs, or author.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Kadyrova has created a series of works reflecting contemporary events: the sticker series Russian Rocket 2022, which can be placed on windows of vehicles or buildings across Europe to create the illusion of a missile flying past, and a series of embroidered paintings on the theme of air raid alerts. At the very start of the full-scale invasion, the artist considered art unnecessary, “not timely”, but all doubts about the relevance and urgency of her work disappeared once her art objects began selling for hundreds of thousands of euros — allowing Kadyrova to direct these funds to support the Ukrainian army.
One such project was Palianytsia, which Kadyrova realized together with Denys Ruban, collecting stones from a river and cutting them like traditional Ukrainian bread. The Palianytsia exhibition was held as part of the 2022 Venice Biennale at Galleria Continua. Selling the elements of Palianytsia by weight at 1 euro per gram raised over 230,000 euros for the Ukrainian army.
During trips to the military, Zhanna Kadyrova absorbs images of war and transforms them into art objects, including the sculpture series Harmless War, made from bullet-riddled metal fragments, and the project Refugees, using houseplants found in destroyed and rescued buildings.
She has participated twice in the Ukrainian pavilion at the 55th and 56th Venice Biennales, and in the main project of the 57th Venice Biennale. She works with Galleria Continua and Gallery Zahorian & Van Espen. Zhanna Kadyrova lives and works in Kyiv.