Dayana Matasheva is a Montreal-based visual artist and writer originally from Uzbekistan. She works across video, digital art, and sculpture, focusing on how algorithms and AI influence emotions, shape habits, and mediate relationships. Her academic background in Philology (2015) and Film Production (2020) informs her interest in contemporary forms of folklore, archetypes, and narratives. Matasheva's work has been exhibited in solo and group shows at festivals such as HTMlles and Filministes, and she has participated in residencies including Eastern Bloc, Ada X, and Dazibao.
As co-founder of the artist duo DemonLovers Inc. with Edson Niebla, Matasheva sheds light on algorithmic systems and non-human agency's widespread, albeit invisible, role in consumer culture, fine art, and fashion. Their debut exhibition, The Salon, integrated AI into every facet of its production, highlighting how it influences material and digital design choices. They are developing a video installation for the SIGHT+SOUND festival, creating a print issue, and curating a group show with support from the Canada Council.
As an internet artist and occasional essayist, I operate within the post-authorship and post-identity framework. My academic background in philology and film has formed my interest in memetics, online folklore, and esotericism. Recently, I have been exploring how hyperstition and magical thinking manifest online and in modern art practices. Influenced by William S. Lee and my familial occult rituals, I believe nothing within our intricate, non-linear universe occurs by chance. Recognizing the transformative potential of art, I approach creation as a deliberate daily ritual.
My aesthetic often reflects decay and degradation, which I perceive as a beautiful interim state between mortality and birth. Inspired by psychoanalysis, my visuals explore morally ambiguous territories inhabited by the abject, the uncanny, and the sublime. My work frequently features melancholic liminal spaces, digital and material clutter, and elaborate collages that reflect the overwhelming opulence of our era.
In contrast, my writing juxtaposes melancholy and nostalgia with the deceptive, euphoric visions of a technocratic future. My essays and scripts are saturated with neologisms and online vernacular, often deviating from linear history and narrative structures. More concretely, I use found online text, deconstruction, and a cut-up technique to depict a mythology of cyberspace.
