Aruzhan Nugmanova
a small archive of things I've made
gallery
12 worksabout
A Central Asian girl from Kazakhstan, currently making things at Milton Academy.
I work across paintings, ceramics, 3D modeling, and digital illustration. My work returns again and again to the same questions: what does it mean to belong to two places at once? How do you carry a culture across an ocean? What survives translation, and what can only be made new?
Many of my pieces draw from Kazakh visual heritage, the shanyrak, the ornaments, the steppe, and place it in conversation with the worlds I'm finding here. The star you saw at the start of this site appears throughout my work. I keep coming back to it.
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Education
- Milton Academy2025-present
- Interlochen Arts Academy2024-2025
- Indigo Art School2021-2024
- National School of Physics and Math(NSPM)2016-2024
Selected Recognition
- American Visions Nominee for My Heritage, one of five works selected across all media in the Massachusetts region · Scholastic Art & Writing Awards 2026
- Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Massachusetts region · 3 Gold Keys, 3 Silver Keys, 2 Honorable Mentions 2026
- Scholastic Art & Writing Awards · 2 Silver Keys, 3 Honorable Mentions 2025
- Claire Skinner Memorial Design Competition · Winner for Light the Way Ahead 2024
- National Art Museum of Kazakhstan, Astana · Participant 2024
- Higher Art Gallery · Participant for Catch the Star 2024
Skills & Media
Acrylic and oil painting · Watercolor · Ceramics and sculpture · Jewelry · 3D modeling in Blender · Adobe Illustrator · Adobe Photoshop · Architectural model-making
contact
For inquiries, collaborations, or just to say hello.