Katya Shkolnik is a Milan-based multidisciplinary artist and photographer whose work translates the unseen structures of time, consciousness, and reality into immersive perceptual experiences. With a background in nuclear engineering, she works across photography, video, sound, and large-scale installations, using the camera as a research tool to explore quantum physics, duality, and the tension between reality and illusion. Scale plays a central role in her work. As a conceptual artist, she seeks to evoke the awe and vastness of the limitless night sky, transcending the constraints of everyday experience and inviting a renewed awareness of our place within the fabric of time. Her work has appeared in international auctions, including Christie’s London and BFAMI, London, and featured in private collections across Canada, the United States, Kazakhstan, Brunei, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In 2025, she presented her solo exhibition, Manifesto on Time, at the Abilkhan Kasteev National Art Museum in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Are you self-taught, or did you undertake formal artistic training?
I do not have formal artistic training, and I often wonder how my work would differ if I did. However, I am certain that my first degree in nuclear physics was essential to the way I think and the projects I create today. I didn’t begin my artistic career until my early thirties, already having two children and two degrees. I started with photography training and private art classes. Since then, my practice has been a process of non-stop self-education. This technical background wasn’t a detour; it provided the specific lens I needed to explore the concepts of time and quantum physics in my current work.
How would you define your visual language or conceptual approach?
I believe we live in a projection of a multidimensional world, surrounded by realities that remain invisible due to our physical limitations. While logic fails to grasp these dimensions, art provides an interface to communicate what is otherwise incomprehensible. My visual language explores the relationship between the known and the unknown, with Time serving as the primary subject of my research. I aim to translate the abstract “whispers” of fundamental existence into a larger, sensually tangible canvas. Ultimately, my conceptual approach is an attempt to make the mechanics of the universe – like the quantum “Observer” – felt rather than just understood.
Which artists have most influenced you, historically or contemporarily and why?
There was a period when I was very susceptible to influence, tuning into the vibrations of specific artists or movements like a radio seeking a station. I see this phase as a vital part of my self-education – a way of living through different eras to understand their internal logic. My deepest connection remains with Abstract Expressionism, a movement I worked to translate into the language of photography. This fascination led to two specific series of works dedicated to the legacies of Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock. I am equally moved by the work of Lee Krasner, finding in that entire era a raw, non-linear energy that resonates with my own exploration of the unseen.
What personal, cultural, or environmental influences shape your practice?
My background in nuclear physics is a primary influence, as it provides a baseline for how I process information and prevents any hesitation when encountering complex new fields of knowledge. I also rely on the collective subconscious, which is where the initial concept for the Manifesto on Time originated. Living in the modern world, I naturally follow the shifts in our environment, observing how the boundaries between the physical and virtual are changing. As a result, I see video and AI as practical tools that now exist alongside traditional media to help map these new realities.
Do you have any rituals or rhythms that anchor your studio practice?
My practice relies on a process of cognitive immersion. By focusing intensely on a specific question, “thoughts from nowhere” begin to emerge, offering new ways to look at the subject. During this state, I often notice environmental cues, as if the space itself begins to provide answers or directions. However, the anchor of my studio is discipline. I don’t wait for inspiration; I simply start by taking my camera or working with my hands. By beginning the physical work, I invite the creative channel to open, ensuring that when an idea arrives, it finds me already in the middle of the process.
What bodies of work or projects are you currently developing?
My work continues to explore the bridge between sensory experience and a mental understanding of the world, specifically how quantum physics reflects in our everyday lives. Having recently presented the Manifesto on Time at the National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, I am still researching, in depth, how the virtual world alters our energy and awareness. This project, which combines 3D film, AI, and performance, was a challenge that required me to learn new tools to match the scale of the idea.
I am currently developing Waters of Time, where I draw a parallel between the fluid properties of water and the nonlinearity of time. Another project in progress is simple in concept but technically demanding, and I am looking for the right partners in the high-tech industry to realize it. Alongside these, I continue a long-term photography book project centered on “time wormholes,” based on research and stories from a Tibetan monastery.
Where can collectors encounter or acquire your work?
Collectors are welcome to get in touch with me directly at katya@katyashkolnik.com.
My work can also be viewed on Instagram @katya.shkolnik and on my website https://katyashkolnik.com/.
