The Alchemy of Stone & Couture
Yulia’s Journey
The Architect of My Spark: A Tribute to My Father
My journey as an artist didn’t begin in a gallery; it began in a corner. Born in Chita, Russia, near the crystal-clear depths of Lake Baikal, as a child I was once placed in a corner, behind a curtain as a punishment for bad behavior. In the quiet of that corner, with a tiny piece of plasticine, I challenged myself to sculpt horses so small they could fit on a fingertip. In that moment, I discovered that creativity isn’t just an escape—it’s a way to build a world where you are never truly alone.
My father, a military man, was the first person to truly see me. He noticed me playing an abandoned piano in a basement and immediately enrolled me in music school. He later supported my studies at the art school in Šiauliai, at the university in Vitebsk Belarus amd then ESMOD International Paris, France.
Growing up in the Soviet Union, art supplies were nearly non-existent, but he refused to let my world be gray. He went through endless hoops and loops to find the tools I needed. I still remember the awe I felt when he managed to find a set of professional watercolors from St. Petersburg with 32 beautiful shades. He set up a room in our basement with his own tools, bringing me wood-burning instruments, beeswax, and alabaster so I could learn to craft,paint and sculpt. Because he worked so hard to find those rare supplies, I learned to treat every material with reverence.
The Alchemist’s Garden: A Tribute to My Mother
While my father provided the tools, my mother provided the vision. A teacher of chemistry and biology, she instilled in me a deep reverence for the natural world and the magic of transformation. I watched her in her element—whether she was skillfully “mushroom picking” in the forest or tending to her lush dacha garden, where she grew vibrant tomatoes, berries, and fruits.
My mother’s passion for science and nature is woven into every sculpture I make. From her, I inherited the “alchemist’s” curiosity—the desire to understand how materials react and how a seed becomes something magnificent. Her life as a teacher also shaped my own mission: the deep-seated desire to share knowledge and welcome others into a world of discovery.
The Sanctuary in the Basement: A Lesson in Compassion
My father gave me tools, and my mother gave me the vision of nature, but it was a little dog named Bimka who gave me my heart for the vulnerable.
As a child, one morning on my way to school, I saw a small dog who had been hit by a car. He was sitting in a pool of blood by a grocery shop. When I walked home hours later, he was still there in the exact same position—shivering, broken, and ignored by the world. It broke something inside me to see such suffering met with indifference.
My mother, cautious and practical, refused to let him into our living space. But I couldn’t leave him. I cleared a corner in the basement, right next to my father’s workshop, using discarded blocks to build him a small, safe room. His leg was badly injured; I could see the bone. Yet, with the quiet care I provided in that basement sanctuary, Bimka survived. He became my best friend, a silent witness to my early sketches and sculptures.
Though his life was later taken by a senseless act of cruelty, the memory of Bimka remains the foundation of my “Spirit.” He taught me that even when the outside world is cruel, we have the power to build a space of healing.
The Mirror of Compassion: My Mother’s Healing Hands
The story of Bimka, the small dog I found broken by the side of a grocery shop, was more than a childhood memory—it was a mirror of my own life. In a twist of fate that changed me forever, I, too, was hit by a car as a child. While my father was away serving in the military, the weight of the world fell on my mother’s shoulders. Just as I had tried to build a sanctuary for Bimka in the basement, my mother built a sanctuary for me in my hospital room. She became an extraordinary example of love and resilience, nursing me back to health with a tenderness that I carry with me to this day.
In her hands, I saw the true “alchemy” of care. She didn’t just understand the chemistry of plants or the biology of a garden; she understood the fragile chemistry of hope. She taught me that even when a body or a spirit is shattered, it can be meticulously, lovingly restored.
The Birth of Stone-Couture™
This is the hidden heartbeat of my work. When I layer paper, when I apply the strengthening bond of tile glue, and when I dust the surface with the “magic” of semolina, I am recreating that process of recovery.
My sculptures are “Stone-Couture” because they represent a transformation: taking something as fragile as paper (or a wounded child) and giving it the strength and permanence of stone. Every piece I create is a tribute to my mother’s healing hands—a way of “paying forward” the life she gave back to me.
Art as a Protective Shell
This is why I describe my sculptures as “shells”—protective fields of beauty for the sensitive souls of this world. I know what it feels like to be the wounded creature by the side of the road. Whether I am advocating for feline companions like my cats Sky, Daisy, and Oscar, or creating a 3D heart to leave in a park for a stranger to find, I am still building that “basement sanctuary” for the world.
My art is for the sensitive. It is for those who feel the world’s pain deeply and choose to respond by creating something strong, beautiful, and enduring.
The Global Movement: From Paris to New York
My passion for patterns led me from Technical State Universit y of Belarus, where I won a scholarship to the prestigious ESMOD International Paris, France, the 1st French fashion school dedicated to Fashion Design and Fashion, and worked in the Haute Couture house: Mason Christophe Rouxel. I spent a decade in the New York fashion industry, designing bridal and evening wear. However, when the industry shifted toward “disposable” fashion, I felt a disconnect. I didn’t want to pollute the planet; I wanted to heal the spirit. I stepped into Real Estate to buy my freedom—to support an artistic practice that is pure, independent, and personal.
A World Without Borders: My Global Vision
I have always lived between worlds. My life has been narrated in 5 languages—English, French, Russian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian—and shaped by the diverse landscapes of the Siberian taiga, the Baltic coast, the Parisian runways, and the Hudson River skyline.
This journey has taught me a singular truth: Creativity is the only language that requires no translation.
My vision is to build a global sanctuary where the “Stone-Couture” philosophy serves as a bridge. Whether you are in a quiet village in Eastern Europe, a bustling apartment in Paris, or a suburban home in America, the act of creating something resilient with your own two hands is a universal path to peace.
I speak these five languages so that I may listen to your stories and share mine, ensuring that no matter where you are from, you have a place at my table. Together, we are layering a new kind of world—one built on heritage, sustained by science, and strengthened by the courage of the Lion.
Welcome. Bienvenue. Добро пожаловать. Sveiki atvykę. Сардэчна запрашаем.
Today, in my studio overlooking the Hudson, I enter a Zen state. I often think of a dream I had after my father passed, where he handed me a flower of Hops—a symbol of vitality and protection. Every pattern I cut is a way of “Paying it Forward,” planting the same seeds of creativity and scientific wonder that my parents once planted in me.
Dedications
This journey—from the shores of Lake Baikal to the skyline of the Hudson—is not mine alone. Every layer of paper and every grain of texture is a tribute to those who shaped my hands and my heart.
- For my Father: Who went through “hoops and loops” to find me 32 shades of watercolor when the world was gray. You gave me the tools to build my own reality.
- For my Mother: The teacher of chemistry and biology who showed me the alchemy of the garden. You gave me the science of nature and the passion to teach others.
- For Bimka: The broken dog by the grocery shop who taught me that the most fragile lives deserve the strongest protection. You gave me my heart.
The Philosophy: Stone-Couture
Operating under YPA (Yulia Pokalo Art), Yulia’s work explores the concept of the “Laminated Exoskeleton.” She believes that art should be both ethereal and unbreakable. By utilizing a specialized 3D-lamination process—blending industrial materials like tile and wood glue and expandable foam with humble household elements like semolina and PVA glue—she creates “Stone-Couture” pieces that possess the weight and presence of ancient artifacts but remain lightweight and resilient.
The Healing Heart & Community
Yulia’s vision extends beyond the studio and into the heart of the community. Her project, “The Healing Heart,” is a collective movement designed to democratize art. Through free patterns and “Junior Path” tutorials, she invites everyone—from professional artists to children like her young collaborator Luka and Vera—to build their own resilient sculptures. For Yulia, art is a “Union” where individual beats come together to form a collective landscape of healing.
Future Vision: The Emerald Voyager
The next chapter of YPA is the Emerald Voyager—a vision to transform a retired vessel into a floating sanctuary for art. Sailing along the “Emerald Corridor” of the Hudson River, this mobile gallery will serve as a bridge between urban parks and the water, proving that art can be a nomadic, living force for park stewardship and community connection.
The Sentinel of the Slopes: A Call to Restoration
Beyond the gallery walls, my vision as The Emerald Voyager extends to the very cliffs I call home. I am launching a creative movement centered on the restoration of the historic slopes along Boulevard East in Weehawken. This initiative is anchored by the future installation of “The Sentinel”—a majestic, Stone-Couture Elk sculpture—positioned near the Elks Club to serve as a noble guardian of the Palisades. This project is a call to action to clear the debris and neglect that has accumulated on our waterfront, proving that art is not merely a static object to be admired, but a kinetic force for change. By integrating the Fibonacci formula and the fluid, Parametric principles of Zaha Hadid into public spaces, I aim to harmonize our urban environment with the natural majesty of the Hudson, inviting the community to join me in protecting and cleaning the “Green Heart” of our neighborhood.
The Studio Guardians
Yulia lives and works in New Jersey, where she is spiritually supported by her mother and her three beloved “Studio Guardians”—cats Sky, Daisy, and Oscar.
