Creativity's UK
Zibeyda Seyidova is an enigmatic Azerbaijani artist whose practice is rooted in the idea that perception is a continuous, embodied process, resulting from an intersection of inner experience, memory and vision. Where some artists depict what is seen, Seyidova takes this to the next level by exploring how emotional and psychological meaning between the surface of the seen. The philosophy behind her style is inspired by Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception, which understands that each individual is not just a detached observer.
Seyidova infuses her paintings with a philosophical dimension rooted in Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception through her skilful use of chiaroscuro and ability to depict contrasts between light and darkness, texture and shadow, using these pictorial contrasts to fill her paintings with spiritual atmosphere.
Her paintings suggest a visual and aesthetic intersection between Western painting traditions and the contemplative qualities often associated with Islamic art. Running through Seyidova’s Breath of the Hidden series of oil on canvas paintings is dramatic chiaroscuro recalling Baroque masters Caravaggio and Francisco de Zurbarán. Her restraint and the empty voids depicted so cleverly in her paintings, combined with the compositional skill evoke a more meditative sensibility.
Threshold, Veil, Suspension and Vestige – all featured in her Breath of the Hidden series – at first glance appear to be quiet, classically inspired studies of drapery, ascetic architecture and light. Yet when you look more closely beneath the surface, a persistent sense of mystery penetrates the surface simplicity of each canvas.
Veil is one of the most enigmatic paintings, depicting an empty, cell-like room illuminated by dappled golden light falling across a white bed, covered in a crumpled sheet. The absence of a figure transforms the room into a psychological space, inviting the observer to question who occupied it,
and what happened to them? Here, Seyidova’s use of light could suggest escape, revelation or transcendence.
Similarly, Vestige depicts a crumpled white fabric, discarded on the floor of a corridor, leading to an open portal into a mysterious space beyond. In this intriguing series of paintings, Seyidova transforms drapery into a metaphor for absence, impermanence and vulnerability. She is a painter skilled at veering between still life and psychological landscape. Her restrained white and gray palette, combined with a contemplative aesthetic recall Zurbarán’s spiritual austerity and, YBA Gavin Turks’ series of still life paintings, which he created in homage to the master of stripped down, minimalist still life – Giorgio Morandi.
Ultimately, Seyidova’s strength lies in her ability to make silence so visually compelling. Her paintings slow perception down, and invite us to stop and contemplate what remains unseen.
About the Author
Lee Sharrock is a London-based art critic, writer, curator and cultural communications consultant with more than twenty years’ experience across the international art world and creative industries. Over the course of her career, she has worked with leading cultural institutions and organisations including the British Museum, Sotheby’s, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Timothy Taylor Gallery, Saatchi Gallery and Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, where she has held senior roles in global creative communications.
As an art critic and cultural commentator, Sharrock writes extensively on contemporary art, major exhibitions, biennials and international art fairs. Her work has been published in the Financial Times, Forbes, Forbes Japan, Forbes Uruguay, Dazed, AnOther, The Saatchi Gallery Magazine, FAD, Artplugged, Artlyst, Art & Museum Magazine, Creative Review, IRK, Our Culture and Soho House Magazine.
She is the Founder and Editor of Culturalee, an independent digital arts and culture platform that served as a media partner of London Art Fair 2026. Sharrock has also curated numerous exhibitions and cultural projects in London and internationally, working with both emerging and established artists, and served on the judging panel of the Women in Art Prize 2026.
Through her critical writing, curatorial practice and work in cultural communications, Sharrock has established a distinctive international profile within contemporary art.
