Flamenco Dancer

Yulia McGrath was born in Russia in 1985 and moved to Singapore in 2008 to pursue her Doctorate in Applied Physics after graduating from Moscow State University.  Her passion for visual art has been nurtured from a young age, alternately complementing and balancing her commitments as a student and researcher.

Yulia has enjoyed working in different forms and media, but has increasingly focussed on painting in recent years. Her work is versatile, employing oil, acrylics and pastels, depending on the demands of her subjects; and on occasion incorporating three-dimensional effects to create unique textures. She works with brushes and painting knives, sometimes in combination, to achieve highly textured and expressive surfaces on canvas.

Yulia’s art draws heavily on the beauty of nature, often realised through its deep relationship with humanity. Our presence is revealed in the blending of human structures with natural forms, each with its distinctive symmetries; and more subtly as the window of conscious perception which lends meaning and emphasis to the scenes unfolding in her vision.

Certain themes and motifs tend recur in her work, notably the Lighthouse and the Tree of Life, famous cities, and of course music.

Yulia moves effortlessly between impressionist, realist and surrealist styles, all of which are united by her characteristic use of bright, vivid live colours symbolising passion and love of life.