Coming from Macedonia, a country where 60 - 70% of the land is forest, the immediacy of nature is a significant element of her working practice. The work attempts to expose the relationships between human and naturally occurring landscapes. Most of Hadzi-Vasileva’s professional training has taken place in the UK - graduating from the GSA, Glasgow in 1996 and the RCA, London in 1998. This has introduced her to other landscapes, encouraging a broad outlook to her responses to specific places and an understanding of the importance of research for the successful development of her work.

Hadzi-Vasileva aims to develop profound works which resonate with the particular place, interior or external. This stimulates her to develop new methods using unusual materials which are linked to the specific environment (e.g. butter, fish skins, chicken skins, rice, trees, fir cones, watercress etc.). New methods and procedures for each work, while challenging and occasionally highly risky, encourage her to propel ideas forward into new avenues and opportunities and also offers the opportunity for surprise and astonishment both to herself and the audience.

Underlying all of Hadzi-Vasileva’s practice she has an interest in exposing spaces which are not normally encountered. This concern with space, including light, darkness, colour, texture and smell has produced a series of works that explore their symbolic nature and intimacy whilst also attempting to delineate the integral nature of their relationship.

In exploring these unencountered spaces Hadzi-Vasileva aspire for a resonance with fable or fairly story, a suggestion of promised Arcadia’s or Utopias which are unattainable, hoping to encourage a sublime experience for the visitor.