Yulia Gasio

Yulia is a Ukrainian-born artist who lives and practices art in California. Her works have been featured in numerous exhibitions regionally and nationally and are in private and public collections including Ukraine Cultural Center LA, Los Angeles, California. She earned an MA in Art with an emphasis in Art History from California State University Fresno (2015) and MFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University Long Beach (2019). Yulia is a recipient of the Gloria Lee Memorial Award, Nell O. Fogg, and Domenic Cretara Scholarships. Yulia works as an Assistant Professor of Drawing/Painting and Foundation Studies at California State University Long Beach. 
 
As a figurative painter, Yulia concentrates on images of the human form. She believes human figures represent a sensuousness directly linked to our psychology and illustrates the human condition. In her opinion, the human figure is the most profound way to convey complex social, political, and personal stories, while showing the fragility and value of human life. In her recent body of work Yulia shares experiences of her immediate family living in a war zone in Eastern Ukraine. She interprets the nightmarish events using figuration, symbolism, and iconography and portrays the transformation of Ukrainian society enduring intense violence and ethnic cleansing. It is through the juxtaposition of the human form— she grapples with the humanity that persists in spite of the violence of the ongoing war in Ukraine.