Naila Hazell was born in 1981 and grew up in Baku, Azerbaijan. She is a British contemporary artist working in London. She was taught by renowned Soviet social realism painter Boyukagha Mirzezade while studying fine arts and getting her MA at the Azerbaijani Fine Arts Academy. A figurative artist, working mainly in oil, she's also expanding her practices with different media for some of her future conceptual art projects. In 2020 she was a contestant on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year.