Golden Myths of Ancient Greece.
Artist of the Month, Norway
The artist’s book Norway-based artist Julia Mordvinova Gilje is known for alternating between different techniques to explore the world of dreams, the inner self and identity. With the project Golden Myths of Ancient Greece, she is blurring the lines between visual arts and traditional craftsmanship with rather intriguing results. By Bianca Wessel | Photos: Julia Mordvinova Gilje
Julia Mordvinova Gilje was born in Russia and studied for her Master of Arts degree in St. Petersburg, before moving to Norway in 2003. Her work alternates between graphics and painting, inspired by theatre, music and literature as well as visual arts. The artist finds herself fascinated by the complexity of common human feelings such as strength and weakness, fear and longing. These feelings are often kept private and even suppressed. 126 | Issue 128 | September 2019
Through her psychological portraits, the artist uses her work to create a space to explore what lies deep within. “Emotions, dreams, the inner world and identity of humans intrigue me,” Julia explains. As part of her upbringing and studies, she would often find herself drawn towards the powerful stories; the fables told by the ancient Greeks to explain the existence of the world. Julia found these stories to be deeply captivating and inspiring.
Golden Myths of Ancient Greece From Narcissus, who fell in love with himself, to Aphrodite’s never-ending allure, Greek mythology has a continued presence in contemporary art as the characters are highly relatable in terms of their emotions, desires and struggles. This inspired Julia to dive into the project Golden Myths of Ancient Greece. With great respect for the craft of the artwork, and with idea and implementaJulia Mordvinova Gilje.