JULIA RAWAL

Resident January 2024

Julia Rawal, a Ukrainian multidisciplinary artist based in Poland, employs painting as her primary artistic language while engaging in constant experiments involving the transformation of soft materials into objects or sculptures. With a background in medicine, new media art, and animation from the New Media Art School in Kiev,

Julia is drawn to non-verbal elements that convey the diverse facets of her life experiences as a woman, immigrant, human, artist, and dreamer.

In her artistic practice, Julia explores themes such as sexuality, violence, trauma, body, and the intricate connections between surface and insides, visible and hidden, accepted and deviant.

Viewing creation as a reflective process of capturing reality, she goes beyond merely depicting what she sees. Instead, Julia strives to express her personal experiences, allowing her subconscious to articulate an uncensored picture, thereby presenting a nuanced exploration of life's complexities.

"The video work "My Madonna is muslim " is the result of my research of textile in Italy and collaboration with another artist in residency - Menal, who was playing a new role - performing . My main idea was to express the magic and strong power of textile as a medium, which can be used as a sculpting material. Having the ability to reflect light and cooperate with wind it can perform real magic. Working with textile is like sculpturing with soft and flexible liquid. You can reshape, hide, or on the contrary underline things, while playing with context - we've arrived in a Catholic  country with a strong religious tradition, and the obvious connotation was the image of Madonna. Except our Madonna (Menal Bano) is from muslim country Pakistan, and covering her body is a necessity and obligation, the rull woman can't overcome. Is covering the female body a protection for them? Is it the way to defend their weakness and hide sexuality? Or is it a way to leave a big mystery and see poetry and everyday life?"

Video shooting of "My Madonna is muslim" by Julia Rawal in collaboration with Menal Bano