Ocean Dreams, a show of works by sculptor, architect, and interior designer Aidyn Zeinalov has opened at the Ruarts Gallery. The exhibition features sculptures, videos, and installations, as well as jewelry art objects and pieces, marking the artist’s first foray into this form of art.

In his new series, Aidyn Zeinalov addresses the pressing issue of global ocean pollution. His long-standing passion for marine aquariums and his deep concern for the environment have sparked reflections on the apocalyptic legacy that modern civilization may leave behind. Instead of the ancient artifacts and sunken ships holding medieval treasures resting on the ocean’s floor, humanity may leave behind piles of garbage and plastic, impacting entire ecosystems and making marine animals adapt to man-made waste.

These reflections and observations made while living by the sea have inspired Zeinalov to make large bronze sculptures, depicting plastic bags drifting in water, an octopus with a worn lifebuoy, a hermit crab hiding inside a tin can instead of a shell, and a seahorse holding on to a medical mask instead of the usual coral.

In the past, people used to hunt for the ocean’s treasures and use them as exquisite details in royal jewels; rare shells were turned into luxurious wine cups while large pearls adorned ceremonial diadems. Today, it is much easier to find broken toys, drinking straws, and plastic decorative items on the seabed and in the sands of the seashores than anything truly valuable. Even seagulls now catch not fish but children’s pacifiers, a surreal scene that is also captured in one of Zeinalov’s sculptures.

Thinking about the imbalance in nature and in the minds of people, who use products of the modern-day industry without giving a thought to the way they impact on the planet, Aidyn Zeinalov arrived at the concept of a symbiosis between civilization’s waste and jewelry. He created necklaces with pendants in the shape of not only traditional shells but also discarded pacifiers, crushed plastic bottles, cups, and straws, all made from polished bronze, his medium of choice. These jewelry art objects are displayed in a stage set depicting a seashore with black sand; as the story goes, they have been found by beach cleaners, whose daily job is to remove garbage from the shore.

The idea of exalting civilization’s waste to the status of sculpture and garbage to the status of art jewelry turned out to be so captivating that Aidyn Zeinalov also created jewelry proper in the style of his Ocean Dreams show.

He designed three gold items: a pendant shaped like a broken light bulb and two brooches – a twisted cocktail straw and a cotton swab. All these pieces have to do with the subject of the exhibition, whose narrative they enhance; sadly, they can be found on any beach in the world, they are part of Zeinalov’s sculptures, and they are now also jewelry pieces available for purchase at the Ruarts Gallery until the show closes.

Known for his wry sense of humor and wittiness, Aidyn Zeinalov poeticizes garbage, elevating it to the role of art jewelry, boosting its value, and making us think about humanity’s excessive consumption that damages the environment.


Exhibition dates: October 23 – December 1
Curated by: Katrin Borisov, Ruarts Foundation and Gallery Artistic Director
1st Zachatievsky Lane, 10
Opening hours: Tue-Sun, noon – 8 p.m.