In addition to artistic practice, Uriya coaches people into holistic life transformation and psychedelic preparation and integration. 

As an artist, I work across multiple platforms including painting, photography, performance, sculpture and installation. Appropriation of archaic media like wool and bones awakens DNA encoded memories of my ancestors from Central Asia, for whom these materials made nomadic lifestyle possible. Drawing on wool’s unique materiality, the history of which goes back to the dawn of man’s earliest technology, the work helps me to explore and express the current changes in individual and collective consciousness within the context of globalisation, rapidly developing technologies and the environmental crisis. In a way, my spiritual, coaching and artistic work are deeply intertwined and inform one another.

Greatest inspirations or influences?

Over the past few decades, the abundance of technologies, while serving us, has come to consume our lives. Curators have been stressing the importance of spiritual values and self-care which brings into focus the wisdom of indigenous people, including shamanic traditions. I was truly inspired with the Pavilion of Shamans when I visited the 57th Venice Biennale. Proposing the idea, the Biennale’s Curator, Christine Macel, articulated that “we live in a time where the need for care and spirituality is greater than ever”.

Shamans are viewed as a prototypic figure for artists and scientists. Like artists they are engaged in the most ancient of human practices and are driven by an authentic internal source to move human consciousness forward. According to the earliest cave paintings and archaeological findings of anthropomorphic rock, clay and bone statuettes, shamans have been utilising artistic techniques in their rituals since the Upper Palaeolithic era.

Intertwining the latest shifts of worldview in science with ancient wisdom, particularly the concepts of quantum theory and shamanism, inspired me to create immersive installations that are in flux and adapt to any space. Understanding something intellectually is different from felt-sense or experience of the world. These metaphysical sculptural spaces invite the viewer to step in and immerse themselves into the fundamental act of perceiving the world as it is using all our senses. Essentially, my visceral work is aimed to elevate consciousness.

Tell us a bit about your creative process?

My engagement with wool is experimental. I try to push the boundaries of this medium beyond its traditional use. For example, in some sculptures this ancient organic element, is like an epidermis obscuring potentially toxic man-made material beneath - polyurethane foam. Despite the opposing nature of these media, they have been utilised for the same purpose - insulation. 

To create giant ‘clouds’, I fluff wool to embrace its raw ephemeral quality. Embracing remarkable inherent tendencies and properties of wool fibre in my installations, I expose the array of the medium’s transformations: from raw and traditional to industrial and even digital.

Any other fabric is limited by the width of the manufacturing equipment and the intersection of the threads is predictable. The chaotic nature of felt is ever expansive, at any time you can add more from either point and still maintain an even, smooth surface. A piece of textile can be used as an allegory for the highly organised civilised world we have been trying to achieve where everything is seemingly under control and convenience is at every corner. However, true evolution doesn’t happen in comfort zones but in chaos. For me, felt’s alchemic constitution portrays how the Universe evolves through us. We, as tiny wool fibres of felted rug, are intricately interconnected in the infinite tapestry of the world.

In an effort to make this concept palpable, I created the installation Expanding Consciousness. It consists of visceral sculptures interconnected with rhizomatic tentacles/sensory nerves to evoke an unsettling psychic and corporeal resonance with the audience. 

The felting process is meditative by nature as it requires long hours of monotonous labour. Like shamanic drumming, the rhythmic sound of a needle felting tool propels me to expanded states of consciousness. This installation became a culmination of my Master of Fine Art research at the University of the Creative Arts in the UK, which was honoured a Distinction.  I was also deeply touched when amongst a hundred amazing artists, I was awarded the London Ultra 2019 1st prize for the an expanded version of this installation.

How has this year changed your creativity or how you see the world changing moving forward?

Just before the pandemic, I returned home from the Master Plant Dieta in the Amazonian jungle of Peru. After my last public installation at the Unravel Festival I seized the opportunity to take a break from everything to dive deeper within and integrate profound insights and powerful lessons received during the shamanic ceremonies. 

Until public installations are possible again, I had to scale my practice down. So I have been photographing and filming personal creative engagement/play with my work that brings new meaning to share with the world. I also have been successfully mixing acrylic painting with wool and felting techniques. 

People are nostalgic and craving for real tangible experiences and connection. So after the pandemic is over, I hope everyone will appreciate the magic of experiencing art in real more than ever before. 

Unfortunately, our global collective consciousness has been caught in a cycle of rampant consumerism leading to the destruction of the planet and leaving us sick—physically, mentally, and spiritually. We live in a world that has largely lost connection with the innate healing powers that we can obtain from nature and within ourselves. Modern education mainly focuses on the intellect and achievements rather than how to be happy and live in the fascinating wonderment of every living moment. We forget that what we really are and what we want is simple - Love. Love is the highest vibration of all, so when we honour our inner light, we light up the world.

The crisis of modernity is caused by neglecting the education of the body, heart and our oneness with nature. The world requires a dramatic paradigm shift in how we view and treat ourselves and the world around. I believe that the coronavirus pandemic is a wakeup call for humanity and a healing break for our planet. The deepest way to heal ourselves and our planet is to return to our divine source and to live in harmony with ourselves and nature. I am hopeful as I witness the world undergoing major breakthroughs in this regard. More people are waking up and taking responsibility for themselves. 

Who do you consider to be an icon of our time.

The world is full of amazing people, and it is difficult to think of one icon. In this unprecedented time, I admire anyone who has not given up under the pressure of uncertainty, collective panic and fear.  However, if pressed to identify one individual, perhaps amongst famous people in the art world, Marina Abramovic impresses me with those qualities.

Anything else you'd like to share with us?

My favourite quote by Albert Einstein: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it”.

It brings awareness that everything is in flux, which gives us the power of ‘response-ability’ in life, inspires curiosity and infinite expansion of consciousness and highlights that we are creators of our reality.

uriyajurikgallery.com