About artist

ANNA ZUEVA
artist, doll maker

Anna Zueva, dollmaker

born 1970 in Perm, Russia
lives and works in Vilnius, Lithuania
resume | portfolio

Anna specializes in sculpting paperclay dolls, which can be up to 20-25 inches tall. Each doll is uniquely designed and typically exists as a one-of-a-kind piece, featuring handmade clothes tailored specifically for each creation.

Anna Zueva and her dolls are frequent participants in national and international doll art exhibitions. She is a member of the National Institute of American Doll Artists (NIADA) since 2013. Her work is permanently displayed in various galleries and museums, such as the Surgut Art Museum, Art CZ Gallery in Prague and Parsuna Doll Art Gallery in Kiev. Additionally, her dolls can be found in private collections worldwide.

Anna Zueva has participated in numerous doll art exhibitions and competitions across the globe. In 2010, she received the “Best OOAK Mini-Human” award at the Colliii Awards in Germany, and first prize in the National Doll Artists’ Competition “Hello, Dolly!” in Novosibirsk. That same year, Contemporary Doll Collector Magazine (USA) featured Zueva in their «Artist’s Profile» column.

In 2011, she won a grant competition from the European Cultural Foundation (Netherlands) to fund her trip to Israel, where she organized a doll art exhibition «Acquaintance» in Netanya City. Anna Zueva was awarded the Pandora Platinum Prize in Saint Petersburg in 2016, and in 2022, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania granted her the official «Status of Art Creator.»

Anna Zueva - artist and doll maker

Highlighted Exhibitions

2023 — NIADA Gallery Night, Charlotte North Carolina, US
2023 — «Doll Prague» international exhibition, Prague CZ
2023 — 5 International Doll Show in Tel Aviv/Jaffa, Israel
2022 — NIADA Artists 2nd Annual Holiday Gallery, US
2022 — «Doll Prague» international exhibition, Prague CZ
2022 — Art dolls exhibition, Didžioji g., 11 Vilnius LT
2022 — International Doll Festival in Neustadt bei Coburg, Germany
2022 — VII international doll art exhibition «MuñecArt», Spain
2021 — DABIDA day — 15th anniversary exhibition, Nuenen Netherlands
2021 — VI international doll art exhibition «MuñecArt», Spain
2019 — «Traumfabrik 1. Anthropologie in Mischtechnik», Galerie Vinogradov, Berlin
2019 — «Laimė…ji tokia skirtinga…» exhibition, Vilnius LT
2019 — Artist dolls exhibition in Tallinn EE
2018 — Solo project «About the King and Queens» at the «Doll Prague» international exhibition, Prague CZ
2018 — «Art of Dolls» international exhibition in Moscow, RU
2017 — European Professional Doll Art Festival in Riga, LV
2017 — «Panna Dollya» exhibition in Minsk, Belarus
2017 — «Doll Prague» international exhibition, Prague CZ
2017 — «Art of Dolls» international exhibition in Moscow, RU
2016 — ADI Amsterdam & Dabida Art Dolls exhibition, Amsterdam NL
2016 — «Art of Dolls» international exhibition in Moscow, RU
2016 — European Professional Doll Art Festival in Riga, LV
2015 — «Doll Prague» international exhibition, Prague CZ
2015 — «Puppen kunst im Schloss Farrach», international art exhibition in Austria
2014 — «Robert Tonner’s Convention» (as a part of NIADA’s Transformed Tonner project), US
2013 — «NIADA Gallery Night», Corte Madera US
2012 — «NIADA Challenge Exhibition», Stamford US
2011 — «Acquaintance» art exhibition in Netanya, Israel
2010 — «Art of Dolls» international exhibition in Moscow, RU

Artist Statement

I have been making dolls for over 20 years. But my first encounter with dolls was when I came to the art studio at the Pioneer’s Palace, a youth center for creative work in the Soviet Union. Of course, no one was thinking about doll art at that time at all — children only liked to draw or sculpt. After graduating from the local art school, I began to study design at the Sverdlovsk Institute of Architecture. I created my first doll there and gave it to a friend as a birthday present. That started my doll artist career. And it has been doing it for twenty years.

Inspiration for dolls can come from various sources. Sometimes it could be an interesting piece of fabric. Another time, a film I saw or a book I read. Sometimes my mood becomes the inspiration in itself and any little thing can trigger it, like some gesture or a pose. Dolls often tell me what they want to look like. I always find it more interesting to create new images than to repeat the old ones because I have no lack of ideas. In my stream of inspiration, I can work 24 hours a day.

I design and make outfits for all my dolls. As a child, I wanted to become a fashion designer and later I studied the history of Russian theater costume, so I especially love to work on the details of the costumes for my dolls. I collect any beautiful piece of fabric I see, even if I don’t know what to do with it at the moment. As a result, my home is filled with materials for costuming.

My other passion is unusual accessories. I occasionally make those myself out of fabric and felt. I also dabble in furniture restoration, well, restoring isn’t exactly what I do. I rather transform it, making it not what it used to be but what I want it to look like.

I love all of my dolls, without any exceptions, even if they are acting up and turn out not how I’d wanted them to look. I feel comfortable and cozy with them, we talk, argue at times, but I always remember all my girls lovingly. I miss some of them, too. They are so very different, with distinct personalities. Some are «born» easily and quickly, some not.

When the work is over and I am satisfied with the result I let them go into their new family light-heartedly. I enjoy thinking that my dolls are loved and people want to look at them every day.Anna Zueva

Art dolls by Anna Zueva — Gallery