Alëna Koleso is a visual and sound artist whose practice spans drawing, photography, publishing and sound performance. Her projects often combine images, field recordings, everyday objects and walking as a method of research.
Many of her works engage with public space and informal situations. Simple structures such as repetition, rhythm and chance shape how materials are gathered and shared. Through these processes, she explores how images, sounds and small gestures circulate and accumulate meaning in everyday environments.
Alongside her artistic practice, Koleso works in visual communication as a graphic and editorial designer, collaborating with music labels, publishers and other cultural initiatives.
Her work has been presented internationally at venues such as Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht), Salón ACME (Mexico City), Galeria Zé dos Bois (Lisbon), PADA (Barreiro) and LOM (Bratislava), as well as in publishing contexts including Offprint London and Tokyo Art Book Fair.
Education: MA Design: Publishing Futures – DELLI, Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon (2024–26); BA Fashion: Photography – HSE Art and Design School, Moscow (2017–21).
Residencies: ANIMAIS (Cada1), Montemor-o-Novo (2026); Provisional School for Nothing, Sabóia (2025); SHAPE+ / OUT.RA, Barreiro (2025); PADA, Barreiro (2025); Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht (2021–22).
Grants & Scholarships: OUT.RA Bolsa de Criação (2026); PADA Barreiro Bursary (2025); Merit Scholarship, Universidade Lusófona (2024–26); Nederlands Letterenfonds support funding for artists from Ukraine and Russia (2022).
Selected Solo Shows, Performances, Launches: Madrugada para oito, mais uno +1 (Villa Karpatia), Lisbon (2026); Galeria Zé dos Bois (sound performance), Lisbon (2025); Artwork Outside the Gallery, book launch, Stolen Books, Lisbon (2025); Noite da Raposa, ADAO (sound performance), Barreiro (2025); The Last Load, Salón ACME, Mexico City (2023); LOM (sound performance), Bratislava (2022); Novovoskresenskoe, book launch and exhibition, Space of unknown place, Moscow & family garden (2021); Novovoskresenskoe, collection launch and exhibition at Vajrapar, Yerevan (2021).
Selected Publications: Artwork Outside the Gallery, Stolen Books (2025); Lost Connection, Samopal Books (2024); From Maastricht to Tbilisi, Samopal Books (2023); Getting Lost With the Wind, Jan van Eyck Academie (2022); Enjoy, self-published (2021); Lost Object, Samopal Books (2021); Novovoskresenskoe, self-published (2021).
Selected Group Shows, Performances: O Corpo que se Desgasta, PADA, Barreiro (2025); Sociedade Sonora da Saudade, Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon (2025); AEAAEA5 feat. Vazko, Liberation Station, Outra Cena, Lisbon (2025); 3D CONTACT with Guilherme Curado, Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon (2025); sound performance feat. Nóbrega & Macaco, SAFRA, Lisbon (2025); Festiva(u)l(a) Nada Tudo, Sabóia (2025); FORMA with George Silver & JacqNoise, Cooperativa Mula, Barreiro (2025); Boundaries and Bonds, Ilya Uvarov-Gaba’s room, Tbilisi (2024); Open Studios, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht (2022); Getting Lost With the Wind, co-organised with Daniel Godínez Nivón, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht (2022); Art-Space-Hopping, Piranesi Lab, Moscow (2021).
Selected Collaborations & Contributions: Radio Fantasia – ongoing collaboration (2021–26); OUT.RA – posters (2024–26); Jornal Mapa #44 – cover (2025); Agasshin Magazine – editorial design (2025); Provisional School for Nothing at SYSTEMA, Marseille – sound design (2025); Vezo Coffee – illustration (2025); Culture City Crisis – graphic design with Sofia Castela (2025); Des/Terragem (Sal Grosso, Desmarques, Christoph Weilbach) – editorial design, video projections at Desterro (2022–25); Little Sun (dir. Zhiyuan Yang) – sound design with Zakhar Semirkhanov (2024); Wild Encounters (dir. Hira Nabi) – sound design with Zakhar Semirkhanov (2023); Light Work, dance performance by Lukáš Bobalik, Nová Synagóga, Bratislava – communication design (2023); Novovoskresenskoe for cculdesac – online publishing (2022); Girls Like Us, Issue on Disappointment – artwork (2022); Ears of Earth, dinner by Philipp Kolmann and Suzanne Bernhardt, Mediamatic, Amsterdam – sound design (2022); Klammklang – graphic design, photography (2020–21).