about
Artist Biography
GÜLNAR BABAYEVA
Savours fresh solitude, loves life's multiplicity and strives for simplicity
GÜLNAR BABAYEVA is a figurative sculptor & designer at @caspianmuse studio. Originally from Azerbaijan, she moved to New York’s Hudson Valley in 2010 to study art & design thanks to the generosity of a local American family. She graduated with double associate degrees in Fine Arts and Advertising Design & Graphic Technology in 2012 from SUNY Ulster, and was awarded the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence in the same year. Babayeva holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from Azerbaijan University of Languages.
Artist Photo courtesy of Madeline Krause
As an early career sculptor she practiced observational figurative sculpting with master sculptor Tricia Cline at Woodstock School of Art. Babayeva has been sculpting since 2012, and began focusing on her sculptor identity during the pandemic, which led to Babayeva’s debut solo exhibition – R e v i v a l – at the Arts Society of Kingston in June 2021. Her sculptures have been shown in group and juried exhibitions locally + virtually, and have been acquired for private collections.
Babayeva’s love for figurative art propels her mission to make figurative sculpture visible and adequately represented in local galleries & art venues by inspiring a new interest in figurative sculpting and making it accessible to the art community & public, while pursuing its inclusion and advancement in educational art organizations. Most recently, Babayeva curated, directed and designed the first invitational sculpture exhibition The Other Dimension, Jul 9 – Aug 28, 2022 which featured works with figurative / representational focus by seven Hudson Valley sculptors at a new local gallery in Olivebridge, NY.
Babayeva has been awarded 2022 NYSCA Individual Artist Grant* to cultivate figurative sculpture locally, within the Hudson Valley area. Currently, Babayeva is a resident artists and sculpture instructor at the Cornell Creative Arts Center. She creates her work and teaches at CCAC’s Ceramics & Sculpture Studio in Kingston, NY. Gülnar Babayeva offers inclusive figurative, portrait, animal sculpting, and vessel design workshops. She works with & teaches diverse group of people: youth, adults & elderly.
Gülnar Babayeva is an Associate Member at the National Sculpture Society since 2022, and an active member of local art organizations like WAAM, ASK Gallery Committee & an elected Director to the ASK Board of Directors.
*This support is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.