Text Alzhan Kusainova photo personal files of Yulia Krylova
Yulia Krylova is a courageous artist and conceptual designer who lives in London. Artistic, open and friendly, she draws her nighttime dreams, creates unusual and unique clothing and communicates with her audience through butoh choreography, performance and dance. Her costumes are like installations, they tell stories with hidden meanings and philosophies.
This artist has turned butoh, a form of Japanese theatrical dance, into her favoured method for transferring her ideas. In general, her creative work is a fusion of painting, graphic art and performance that urges her audience to engage in an interactive dialogue.
She stresses that this is for the general public, not a narrow portion of it. While Yulia is currently building her career in London she plans to return to her native Almaty. In the autumn her projects will be brought to Kazakhstan by the international platform investinart. In the future she plans to open a school of improvisation for children.
How did a successful lawyer, working for an international firm, suddenly become a designer and performer?
“I have always had a craving for creative work. I loved painting and studied at schools of art and music. However, when it came to making a decision about my future career my family, who are all economists, advised me to study law. I started working even while a law student in America, and everything went so well, but I was bored. Your creative talent keeps a hold on you until you acknowledge it. By then I had realised that miracles don’t happen in your comfort zone; you should not be afraid of failure, but be brave and try something new.
What was your first step towards this transformation?
“At the age of 15 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This disease was a challenge for me. I learnt to respect it and it disciplined me. I learnt to follow a healthy lifestyle, not drinking alcohol or smoking or eating too many sweet things. When you realise that
your life could be over at any minute you don’t make space for fears that have no foundation. I was also very lucky to be in a good environment; I don’t believe that money or talent are as important as a good environment and teachers.
How did you end up with butoh choreography, and what is it?
“While studying in London I was trying to choose a play for a show and I chose the topic of depression, as I was going through it at the time. Now I can talk about it easily as I have left it behind. I chose the strong and famous play by the English playwright, Sarah Kane, called 4.48 Psychosis. As a result, out of all the students, the choreographer Mary Gabriel, founder of the Butoh Association in Great Britain, chose to work with me. Butoh is a Japanese ballet, a form of modern choreography that often talks about things that people do not want to talk about: about death, sex, pain and the dark side of existence. Often these subjects are taboo. This distinguishes it from classic ballet that looks like a beautiful and exalted fairy tale.
Tell us about your costumes.
“I sew clothes for friends and strangers, for instance, wedding dresses, but they will be a special design for people who do not have standard taste. The theatre is always present in my costumes. I paint some things in one breath, with free lines, at the level of instinct, which is also a kind of improvisational dance. I like to paint and embroider things that are unique, which cannot be reproduced. It could be a painting, but I could also make a dress that you would only wear once or twice in your life. I would rather create works of art, which you cannot wash or the pattern will fade away. Sometimes I create fabric from small pieces, for example by gluing two or three pieces of fabric into one piece.
Are you planning to come back to Kazakhstan?
“I have not changed my citizenship because I don’t want to lose my roots. I feel I am a part of my country. Kazakhstan has many gifted people and I want to work with them and create something new in collaboration, where all parties can share something valuable. I want to bring butoh theatre here to improvise with them in the streets. We could do flash performances. These are like graffiti, you create and leave; they could be
Өнерді тұғырға шығаруға болмайды, ол бәріне де бірдей. Өмірдің өзі — шығармашылық. We don’t need to raise this art high up on a pedestal, it is for everyone. Life is a creative work. Искусство не надо возносить на пьедестал, оно для всех. Жизнь — это и есть творчество.
painted over tomorrow, but it doesn’t matter. It is a game in which the creator enjoys a process and involves their audience. I want to do it with children, adults, old people, all together, creating with pleasure a canvas: jumping, running, dancing with music. We don’t need to raise this art high up on a pedestal, it is for everyone. Life is a creative work.
Tell us please about your exhibitions in London – which ones meant most to you?
“In a project with the National Gallery we could play around with a painting from any collection; I choose to work with Michelangelo’s Leda and the Swan. For the purposes of the performance, Leda’s costume was made in the shape of an umbilical cord giving birth to a flower. This made quite an impact and we had a full house. A performance in a gallery space creates an environment of intimacy and you unwittingly become a part of the action. In the Tate Gallery I made dresses out of fabrics that sounded like water, so when they moved you heard the sea. The dance was spontaneously repeated every 20 minutes, and soon became very lively as people became interested and involved in the interactive performance. For an exhibition of artists inspired by Frida Kahlo’s work, I constructed costumes out of plaster casts to show the artist creating while being encased in a corset; the dancers removed it during the process to show how a human being can change their state.
Do you believe that something can change the world?
“I believe in the butterfly effect. It works, even if you don’t believe in it. I like gathering creative people around me; a personal transformation can result in the transformation of an entire society alongside it. I dream of giving something great to my country because I want to see Kazakhstan as a cultural centre.”