Olga Chekmazova is a designer, restorer, and conceptual artist whose practice exists at the intersection of precise engineering and the philosophy of slow design.

Born in 1991, Olga Chekmazova graduated with honors in Radio Engineering from Vladimir State University in 2013. She began her career in the space industry, where she developed complex docking systems for spacecraft. This experience in high-precision technology later intersected with her study of art and architectural history, as well as the draping method of tailoring.

A desire to preserve cultural heritage led Olga to pivot toward the restoration and redesign of vintage lighting. This transition merged her engineering background with a new creative focus. In 2020, she founded Alter Vista Crafts.
Her practice evolved from restoration to creating original pieces from antique components, leading to the launch of her Electrics as Art educational program in 2022. Since then, she has trained over 100 lighting restorers. Her work Space Forever, which pays homage to her experience in the space industry, was exhibited at the Museum of Decorative Arts.

Relocating to the Cotswolds in 2024, the historical center of the Arts and Crafts movement, marked a shift in Olga's practice toward a conceptual stage. She has moved away from classical restoration and the concealment of defects. Instead, she works exclusively with decommissioned fragments of past eras. Olga focuses on domestic elements, viewing the home as a space where individuals are most receptive to contemplation. This choice reflects a global reality of displacement and loss. By working with the ruins of the domestic sphere, she seeks to identify a point of departure for a new beginning.

Her method is a symbiosis of surrealism and functionalism. Utilizing antique ceramics, porcelain, metal, and electrical components, Olga combines laconic forms with sophisticated technological solutions. She asserts that a unique beauty is concealed within loss and defects, which become the foundation for a new contemporary harmony. Through her work, she addresses universal questions of memory, time, and ecology, inviting the viewer to see ruin not as trauma, but as a chance for a circular and conscious beginning.

Through her work, Olga addresses universal questions of memory, time, and ecology. She challenges the logic of the linear economy, inviting the viewer to see ruin not as trauma, but as a chance for a circular and conscious beginning. Her works are held in private collections worldwide.