Anna Kovina is an interdisciplinary artist and sculptor, working with sculpture, photography, and immersive installations.
Anna Kovina was born in Moscow in 1977 and raised in Tashkent,
Uzbekistan, where her childhood revolved around drawing, painting,
sewing, and rhythmic gymnastics. In 1995, after the collapse of the
Soviet Union, she immigrated to the United States. She earned
degrees in finance and law and went on to practice law in Palo Alto,
California.
Motherhood brought her back to making. After the birth of her second
child, her family relocated to a farm in rural Sonoma County.
Immersed in the rhythms of nature, animals, and young children, she
began creating again—designing regenerative landscapes, knitting,
and painting.
Her children’s joy in drawing, building, and playing with complete
abandon reminded her of the creative freedom she had set aside. She
became captivated by the joy of fearless creativity, unconcerned with
outcome. This kind of creativity doesn’t chase perfection or result, only
the thrill of making. This fearless experimentation became a model for
her own return to art—a practice rooted in curiosity, play, and
presence. This spirit continues to shape her evolving work with light
and sound, wool and metal, and, obsessively, with glass.
In 2021, Anna and her family moved to Richmond, Virginia, where she
enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University to study sculpture.
There, she found new methods of making that matched with her long
view of time, her need for hands-on labor, and the exhilaration of
working with extreme temperatures. She earned her BFA in Sculpture
+ Extended Media from VCU and now lives and works in Richmond.