Reviving Forgotten Edges: Komarova’s Painted Books Honour British Women Writers in Support of Visible Women UK
Olesia Komarova is an illustrator and multidisciplinary artist who has exhibited in Finland, Russia, Serbia and the UK. Komarova’s unique practice includes the unusual art of fore-edge book illustration, and her work sits at the intersection of art, mental health awareness and sustainable community practices.
Image courtesy of Olesia Komarova
© Olesia Komarova
Her latest project is a fundraising auction for Visible Women UK that involves fore-edge painting and book restoration. Komarova has created finely detailed fore-edge paintings for six books by or about outstanding British women–including British Queer writers Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Virginia Woolf. The books include Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, To the Lighthouse, and Mrs Dalloway; Sarah Waters Fingersmith; Anna Sewell Black Beauty; Tracy Chevalier The Remarkable Creatures; and Tom Sharpe’s book about fossil hunter Mary Anning–The Fossil Woman.
© Olesia Komarova
Most of the books used to create the fore-edge paintings are sourced by Komarova in second-hand shops and rebound by her before she creates the finely applied images in watercolour, ink, and acrylics. Komarova paints delicate portraits and images on the edges of these vintage tomes in a style reminiscent of the Bloomsbury Set, in particular evoking the aesthetic of Vanessa Bell. Komarova depicts dinosaurs and sea birds in fine detail on the edge of Sharpe’s book The Fossil Woman and a striking portrait of a Harlequin that brings to mind Picasso’s Blue period on the edge of Woolf’s Orlando.
Komarova explains: “Coming from a country with strong anti-LGBT policy, it was almost impossible for me to get such books during most of my life, so it’s really hard to see them discarded and unwanted elsewhere, which inspired me for the fore-edge painting up-cycling project. Along with helping to raise awareness about the work of Visible Women UK, through the project I hope to also raise awareness about strong censorship on book publishing still present in many countries and foster discussion on ways to break these barriers and make reading more accessible.”
© Olesia Komarova
Komarova was born in Kyrgyzstan and grew up in Russia, but describes herself as a nomad who has been slow-traveling around Europe and Asia for the last few years. Komarova has been working on her fore-edge book painting project for Visible Women UK whilst on the road travelling through four countries. The necessity of fitting all her artist’s materials and belongings in one backpack led to a new way of looking at minimalism as a source for creativity. She explains: “I learned to accept limitations as tools in the creative process, and I hope that sharing this story could inspire people not to let their constraints stop them from making art.”
Born in Kyrgyzstan in 1999, Komarova was raised in Russia and is currently based in Finland. Combining research in illustration that she conducted during her BA in Linguistics (Tver State University) and MSc in Psychology (National Research Tomsk State University) with fine art training (The Academy of Watercolours and Fine Arts open courses in Moscow), in 2018-2023 Olesia received scholarships in Russia and Finland for her experimental work on visual bias and discrimination. Olesia’s artworks have been shortlisted for international art awards in Russia and Serbia, as well as exhibited in Finland and the UK.
©2025 Olesia Komarova
Lee Sharrock is a global creative PR consultant, curator and writer for publications including; Art Doc Photography Magazine, ArtLyst, Creative Review, FAD Magazine, F22, Runway Gallery Magazine, Soho House Magazine and STATE.
