Yuliia Tilik

I am a self-taught artist originally from Ukraine, currently living and creating in the United States. My path to art was not traditional. I came to painting through a personal need to create, experiment, and express things that are often difficult to put into words.

I create textured abstract paintings using acrylic paint and modeling paste. My process is intuitive and physical — I build the surface through multiple layers, scraping, covering, removing, and rebuilding until the work finds its final form. I am drawn to imperfect surfaces, restrained geometry, contrast, and the tension between order and irregularity.

My current work explores boundaries — both visible and invisible: the spaces we create around ourselves, the divisions between inner and outer worlds, and the feeling of being within, between, or beyond them. Rather than giving the viewer a fixed interpretation, I want each painting to leave space for a personal emotional response.

I work primarily on gallery-wrapped canvas, allowing texture and the physical surface of the painting to remain an important part of the work.