Meet Yuliya Alagir
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Yuliya Alagir was born in Tashkent, Central Asia. The Alagir family descends from the ancient Ossetian Kulaev clan, which settled in the Alagir Valley of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia.
From an early age, Alagir demonstrated innate artistic talent. A self-taught artist, she developed her skills by visiting art galleries and transforming those experiences into original techniques and a distinctive artistic vision. Her work spans a wide range of media — from oil and acrylic painting on canvas to watercolor, murals, frescoes, jewelry, and three-dimensional objects. In 2018, Alagir moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where she currently lives and works. Alagir has been recognized in the fields of contemporary art and conceptual symbolism. Her palette is innovative and complex: by layering numerous colors, she creates a three-dimensional effect, with paintings that shift in color depending on the lighting. At the core of Alagir’s artistic language is a reference to the pre-linguistic period of human culture — a time when perception of the world was not mediated by words, but through instinctive and sensory engagement with forms and rhythms of nature. This archaic layer of consciousness spans from the Paleolithic to the early Archaic period, when humans used signs to understand the laws of the cosmos and their place within it. Her visual system is built upon universal symbols — circles, crosses, spirals, solar discs, triangles, and elemental signs. These motifs reflect humanity’s primal interaction with nature and the cosmos, the struggle and harmony of the elements, and the cycles of growth, light, and darkness. These forms, originating in prehistoric times, became the foundation for myths, rituals, and artistic traditions, forming the basis of human culture and spirituality. In her work, Alagir restores symbols to their original energy and meaning — as living carriers of memory through which contemporary viewers can reconnect with deep archetypes and inner knowledge, often lost in the process of civilization. Alagir’s series of projects form a cohesive narrative, revealing the evolution of symbols and their significance to human consciousness. A recurring theme throughout her work is humanity’s journey toward light, knowledge, and self-awareness, with the symbol of the Sun playing a central role as a source of life, creative energy, and spiritual awakening. In 1998, Alagir gained recognition with her collection Mystery of the Sun. This project inspired subsequent series, including "Proto-Art", "Temple of the Sun", "Altar of Eternity", "Priestess of the Sun", "Lost Civilizations", "Astrological Ages of the World", "Accessories of the People of the Sun", and "Vessels of Life". Collectively, these works form a philosophical chronicle, exploring humanity’s original connection to the cosmos and nature through the language of symbols and archetypes. During the past six years in Canada, inspired by the landscapes and beauty of Alberta, Yuliya Alagir has developed new forms of expression in the style of lyrical expressionism. In this approach, emotional perception becomes the foundation of artistic expression: form and color transform into a living flow of feeling, conveying the immediate impression of the surrounding world. Her palette in these series is especially free, ranging from transparent, airy watercolor transitions to bold, impasto strokes, where color does not describe objects but expresses states, energy, and the breath of space. Alagir works with a limited number of paintings in each series, each the result of bold technical experimentation. Her innovative approach combines techniques: the transparency and fluidity of watercolor merge with the dense, textured application of paint with a palette knife, creating a unique sense of internal rhythm and emotional depth. This synthesis is not merely experimental; it represents the search for a new plastic language in which impulse, meditation, and the energy of nature converge. In these works, her mature artistic intuition is evident: mastery of color becomes a means of capturing moments of inner revelation, when reality and feeling merge into a single breath. Professional Affiliations and Memberships Recognized Professional Artist, United Art Rating (since 2004) Member, Federation of Canadian Artists Member, Art Union of the Artists at the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan Member, Canadian Society of Painters in Water Color (CSPWC) Her works are included in public and private collections, including the Contemporary Museum of Uzbekistan (CAMUZ), Lazgi Museum, Foundation of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan, CDHA Fund, Moscow, as well as corporate and professional collections such as the National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU) and the CSPWC. They are also held in private collections in Canada, Russia, Australia, Italy, Israel, France, the United States, Uzbekistan, and the former Yugoslavia. Yuliya Alagir is a repeated participant in international art festivals and biennales in Uzbekistan. She continues to actively exhibit and participate in art projects in Canada, presenting new series and experimenting with techniques. In addition to her artistic practice, she supports and develops young talent through workshops and courses, and engages in charitable initiatives promoting art and socially significant projects. ANCESTRY AND THE ROLE OF THE SUN IN ALAGIR’S WORK
The Alagir family is descended from the ancient Ossetian family of the Kulaevs, who settled in the Alagir Valley of the North Ossentia-Alania in Russia.
According to historians inspired by the conceptual symbolism of Alagir’s works, the Ossetians are an Iranian ethnic group from the Caucasus Mountains, indigenous to a unique ethnolinguistic region. Ossetic, a remnant of the Scytho-Sarmatian dialect group which was once spoken across the Pontic–Caspian Steppe, is one of the few Iranian languages spoken inside Europe. Ossetians are an independent and freedom-loving people who, with their courage, solidarity and dedication to their honor and traditions, left a deep mark on the cultural history of those who still reside in the Caucasus Mountains. The Kulaev family (Alagir’s mother’s maiden name) is assimilated from the Scythian-Samart-Alanian tribes – the Ossetian-Digors and tribal nomadic peoples of Turkic origin. The ancient Scythian-Narts warriors were the Scythian-Alanian branch of the Kulaev family and are key to understanding the role of the Sun in Alagir’s work. This branch of Alagir’s family originates from the Indo-Aryan clan ALAGATA – the clan of the Scythian priests who worshiped the image of the Sun and were reputed to have possessed secret knowledge of ancient mysteries. Thus, symbols of the Sun have influenced the traditions of the Kulaev family and now appear frequently in Alagir’s work. |