Four years ago, Russian artist Julia Usmanova was sitting in her studio in Saint Petersburg. Snow fell outside her window, but her mind was elsewhere. "I realised I felt homesick for India," she says.
The moment became the foundation of her ongoing solo exhibition, ‘When India Became Home’, currently on view at Bikaner House in Delhi till June 23, conceptualised by Neena Gulati. Through a series of dreamlike figurative paintings, Usmanova explores memory, identity, belonging and the emotional connections that transcend borders.
For the artist, India was never meant to become a second home. She first arrived in the country in 2018 to visit her sister here. "Since then I have been coming every year," she says. " I slowly fell in love with India and this exhibition is my expression of this love."
Over the years, she spent considerable time in Kolkata even as she travelled across Delhi and Agra. Though warned she would experience culture shock, she says India felt strangely familiar. "India has so many layers and it's so different, so colourful," she says. "It made a big impression on me." That impression can be seen throughout the exhibition, where Indian landscapes, women, flowers and animals emerge as recollections from her years in India. The paintings occupy a space somewhere between reality and dream, memory and imagination.
India through women
Women occupy the centre of Usmanova's visual universe. Draped in jewellery, flowers and delicate ornamentation, her subjects appear calm, introspective and often lost in thought, or gazing directly at viewers.
Many of these women are inspired by people she encounters in everyday life. Some are friends, while others are strangers whose faces linger in memory long after a brief encounter. Asked why she repeatedly returns to female figures, Usmanova describes them as simultaneously observer and observed. "Women in my paintings are at the same time a piece of art, a viewer and an object of viewing," she says.
While India is often associated with noise, colour and movement, Usmanova approaches it through a quieter lens. "I am a calm person myself," she says. "India is about pure, flamboyant, energetic, chaotic emotions. Through my prism it gives an interesting mixture."
That sense of calm extends to her use of colour. Rather than the saturated reds, yellows and pinks often associated with India, her canvases are dominated by muted greens, nude browns, soft purples and subdued reds.
"I wanted to get this feeling of seeking a shadow during a very hot day," she explains. "Or this quiet hour in the afternoon when everything gets still and quiet."
Tigers, flowers and dreams
The pivotal work in the exhibition is 'Tiger', born from that homesick moment in Russia. Usmanova recalls dreaming of India's hot summers and perpetual flowering seasons while sitting in the cold Russian winter. "That's how 'Tiger' was born and that's how I realised that through the years India became my second home," she says.
Tigers appear frequently in her canvases, but not as aggressive or threatening creatures. Instead, they appear protective and gentle. For Usmanova, the tiger represents West Bengal, a place she grew attached to during her time in Kolkata.
Birds, flowers and other animals populate her compositions as well. "In Russia, summer takes only about three months," she says. "In India it feels like constant summer blooming and bird trails."
Flowers, particularly jasmine, carry especially personal associations. One painting was inspired by rainy-season walks through Kolkata, accompanied by the scent of blooming jasmine. "Some of these paintings are dedicated to smells," she says. "I wanted to give a scent of jasmine through the painting."
These sensory memories help explain why many of her works feel dreamlike. "I live in this space between reality and imagination my whole life," she says with a laugh. "It's like Alice in Wonderland, but Julia in Wonderland."
Trained in Russia's academic art tradition, Usmanova gradually moved away from its rigid conventions after living in India. Though her work draws heavily from Indian experiences, she resists framing herself as caught between two identities."I don't feel stuck," she says. "I feel like I've become both." Having trained in Russia's academic art tradition, she gradually moved away from its rigid conventions after spending time in India. "My style at first was very academic. I realised you can't fully express the Indian vibe and experience through this."
Her paintings exist in a space where Russian memories and Indian experiences merge into something uniquely her own. Asked how India has changed her understanding of home, Usmanova says: "Home is not a place or a house or anything physical. It's memories of moments, people that you met on your way. It stays with you and becomes your identity."