Julia
Usmanova

I am a Russian-born artist who works primarily in oil on canvas. My artwork blends the academic tradition of Russian painting with contemporary and Orientalist influences.

“India proved to be far more diverse and layered than I could ever have imagined. Over the years, I have come to regard it as my second home, and everything that once seemed extraordinary and otherworldly has now acquired the gentle patina of something familiar, something dear.”

I have lived in both Kolkata and Delhi — the latter has been my adopted home for the past six years. My paintings return again and again to the feminine form: its drapery, its ornament, the small creatures and flowers that gather around it. Tigers, starlings, dragonflies and jasmine pass between two countries inside the same frame.