Volchkova Yulia Anatolievna

Who is this beauty? Have you heard this name before? Is she a model? An actress? You can try to guess but it is unlikely that you will get it right.

She is a street artist, a mural painter.

You can see some of her murals in Penang.

In an interview by Sami Wakim, who is the founder and editor of Street Art United States, an online community that supports street artists, this is what she said about herself :

"Hello, my name is Julia Volchkova. I'm from Siberia. Drew from childhood, had professional art education, and studied classical paintings and portraits. I always wanted to do something big, to draw a huge portrait. Unaware of Internet, I had no idea of the existence of graffiti, stencil, and street art. I discovered it through the street artists in my country. And I began to learn more. I picked up the first spray can at 18. We would draw in the summer as it was very cold in Siberia. And it was only one month in the year. After graduating from college at the age of 23, I went to St Petersburg. There I started actively and constantly drawing. I was unstoppable! Huge walls were pulled and I was dreaming. It was like an obsession."

For the full interview by Sami Wakim, click 'Interview : Julia Volchkova'.

In 2014 she was invited to draw mural in George Town Penang. Her first piece of work was a black and white mural, the 'Child at Prangin Canal', completed on 6 April, 2014.

Due to great interest generated by this mural, Julia was invited back to George Town to do another mural on the side wall of the old Clockwise Hostel, a guesthouse on Stewart Lane, which is within the core zone of the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is the famous 'Indian Boatman' completed on 14 June, 2014

She continued to stay in Penang for several months to complete her other works in George Town and Balik Pulau at the invitation of Penang Island City Council.

Silat Master (Balik Pulau)

Old Fisherman (Balik Pulau)

Dancing Hakka Girl (Balik Pulau)

Old Indian Woman (Lumut Lane George Town)

Her first mural in Kuala Lumpur is the 'Goldsmith' at Jalan Panggong near Petaling Street. She took 5 days (21st to 25th April 2016) to complete the mural.

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