Textile threads: stories of motherhood in the works of a young artist

In today’s art world, where cultural interaction and social themes are becoming increasingly significant, young artist Zulfiya Spowart presents a strikingly original approach to decolonization and motherhood. A graduate of monumental painting from the Tashkent Institute of Fine Arts, she founded her studio in 2018.

Photo: Benjamin Deakin

Her textile works merge the traditional craftsmanship of Central Asia with contemporary art, creating pieces that emanate warmth, care, and the profound strength of maternal love. Each artwork serves as a meditative narrative of time, mothers, and children, offering an intimate perspective on these universal themes.

In her latest exhibition, Elly Belly, Zulfiya explores female identity through textiles, traditional motifs, and autobiographical elements.

By blending bold innovations with classical techniques, she creates pieces that reflect her inner world while addressing themes of motherhood, decolonization, migration, and identity, all while reconnecting with her Uzbek heritage. In an intimate conversation with ELLE Oʻzbekiston, the artist shares her inspirations and how she reshapes perceptions of contemporary art.

Photo: Iroda Inogamova

What does decolonization mean to you in the context of your art?

Since my work is deeply connected to questions of identity, decolonization is more of an optical shift – a way of looking inward.

It is a first-person dialogue, where I constantly question the imposed perception of reality.

I aim to trace the deepest roots of specific perspectives and reinterpret them, choosing my own direction.

Are there any historical or cultural events that have influenced your work?

I was born five days after Uzbekistan declared independence. In the first year of my life, my parents found themselves navigating the liminality between two cultures, suddenly immersed in a post-colonial world.

I absorbed this sense of in-betweenness, though I never fully understood its roots. Now, I realize that my personal development coincided with the formation of a new social order, shaping a threshold perception of reality. This intermediate state is precisely what I try to capture in my work.

Reflecting on my mother’s experience caught in cultural displacement, she sewed, knitted, and embroidered clothes and toys for me and my brother while simultaneously adapting to a new life. Now, as an immigrant mother myself, I feel a similar experience—raising three daughters while adjusting to the difference between past and present.

Photo: Sergey Novikov

What do you hope to convey about motherhood through your work?

Above all, I want to capture not just the inexpressible love of a mother, but also the physical closeness of a child’s small body.

The fleeting nature of this period, the fragility of life, and our vulnerability. These emotions are most vividly reflected in children.

For this series, my daughters were an integral part of the creative process – both as models and as part of the embroidery practice, which took place while caring for them.

It is also important to establish femininity, motherhood, and childhood as essential themes in art, allowing us to tell these stories through personal experience. This is a rejection of patriarchal narratives – a statement of existence.

What materials and techniques do you use to express these themes?

The material found me naturally. Previously, I worked on large-scale canvases, but with small children, that became impossible.

At the same time, I didn’t want to separate myself from my children to create, nor did I want to pause my artistic practice.

I tried embroidery, and textiles opened up a new world for me. It is an incredibly tactile and warm medium, and since I inherited these skills from my mother, it feels like the fabric embraces imperfections the way a mother accepts her child.

Through this trust in dialogue with the material, spontaneity emerges – something I could never achieve in painting.

How do you use color and form to express maternal experiences?

I choose color and form intuitively. In this series, I worked with photographs where unusual selfie angles create a sense of subjectivity rather than mere observation. I also convey the themes of transition and cultural heritage through folk motifs and compositions.

With color, I wanted to evoke purity and tenderness while also reflecting the cultural imprint on the human body.

Photo: Benjamin Deakin

The choice of fabric was also deliberate – natural dyeing with organic materials, creating soft, uneven tones, alongside vintage textiles from the Chorsu Bazaar, originally produced in the 1960s–70s (my mother lovingly selected these fabrics and brought them to me).