Niko Pazzaglia, Ph.D., is a London-based researcher, educator, and artist specializing in Photography, Gender Studies, and Drama. She holds a Ph.D. in Italian Studies from the University of Oregon and an MA in Contemporary Photography from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Utilizing photography, performance art, 3D printing, sculpture, and in-site specific installations, her work explores the intersection between everyday social practices, digital technologies, and contemporary art, delving into the ways power work in the “society of control” – for instance through social media and smartphone applications. Niko has participated in several group exhibitions, among which at the Saatchi Gallery, Tate Exchange and Unit 1 Gallery Workshop. Among her publications figure the co-edited book Photography as Power: Dominance and Resistance through the Italian Lens along with several publications on the Italian and English Early Modern Stage.
''My art practice draws on fashion, pop culture, literature, philosophy, and contemporary art to explore issues that range from media representation, consumerism, and the beauty system to practices of subjectification and exploitation of bodies, especially in the context of gender. With my latest work “Beauty Beauty Matters”(in progress) I have been interested in performative practices of dissemination of the work of art, for instance through social media, commercial flyers, and the marketplace as well as in the ways an artwork, because of its relationship with the user/consumer, changes over time. Using a playful tone while selling items in platforms not originally designed for the arts, my work approaches the everyday consumer raising questions about gender stereotypes, the happiness imperative, and, most importantly, about the status of art in contemporary society.''