The Magic of Mosaics with Julia Slyunkova

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October Artist of the Month | Julia Slyunkova

Julia Slyunkova is a contemporary mosaic artist whose work explores color, light, and texture through tiny hand-cut pieces of glass. Originally from Russia, she has lived in Gordon’s Bay, South Africa, for the past ten years, developing an artistic practice that combines technical precision with curiosity. Through the placement of small individual pieces, Julia creates detailed works that draw people into landscapes and moments, native flowers and pollinators.

Extending beyond traditional fine art, she incorporates her work into functional objects as well, bringing the possibilities of mosaic into everyday life. Her sustained commitment to learning, and a willingness to question what an artistic life can look like, means growth and experimentation an important part of her creative process. For Julia, creativity involves developing skills, embracing challenges, and continuing to explore new possibilities.

"A meaningful practice is built not just on love for the work, but on a mindset that is prepared to be challenged, to repeat, to refine, and to grow." - Julia Slyunkova

Finding Her Way to Mosaic

Looking back, Julia recognizes that creativity did not always have much room in her early life, she describes having a world of creative ideas and projects "bottled up inside" her, while she pursued education and a career in a field that was considered practical and socially valued. Creativity was often overshadowed by what was viewed as more useful knowledge, and she can now see how those expectations influenced her.

Julia’s creative path developed alongside a career that looked quite different, with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, she spent more than a decade working as an auditor in Moscow, where she gained experience across a range of industries and business models. Her mosaic journey began in 2014, while she worked her day job she began to develop her interest in mosaic, gradually building her knowledge and refining her techniques.

What started as exploration, grew into a sustained commitment to the medium, eventually leading her to establish Noname Studio Mosaic in 2023. The studio offers workshops focused on advanced mosaic techniques, providing an opportunity for her to share the knowledge she has developed throughout her practice.

"What truly excites me is when my art inspires others to explore their own creativity, whether it’s through a newfound appreciation for different art, or a spark that encourages them to start creating." - Julia Slyunkova

“Doing What You Love”

One of Julia’s most thoughtful reflections on her creative journey concerns a familiar piece of advice: Do what you love.

The phrase is often offered as encouragement to artists, suggesting that passion should be the starting point for a fulfilling career, but she found the idea incomplete. The reality of working in mosaic can involve long hours, physical strain, repetitive tasks, technical difficulties, lengthy fabrication, and financial uncertainty. There are also broader challenges, including misconceptions about the medium and the difficulty of having work recognized and valued.

When passion is treated as the only reason to pursue something, those difficulties can begin to feel like evidence that an artist has chosen the wrong path. Julia questions that assumption, and connects this idea to ikigai, a Japanese concept often translated as “a reason for being.” As she interprets it, a sustainable creative path involves more than what a person loves. It also requires developing skills, finding ways to contribute to community, and considering how the work can support a livelihood.

Her background in auditing influenced how she thinks about these questions. Through her professional work, she became interested in business models and the factors that help organizations develop and improve over time. She draws on ideas from Jim Collins’s Good to Great, particularly the warning that being satisfied with what is merely good can prevent further growth.

“passion is often the result of mastery, not the cause of it.” - Cal Newport

Applied to art, this means that technical competence and a finished piece are not necessarily the end of the process. There is always room to question, refine, take risks, and discover what else the work might become. Julia sees artistic development as a commitment to keep learning rather than a search for a point at which the work is finally perfect. These ideas have left her feeling hopeful about the future of her mosaic practice. Instead of continually asking whether she loves her work enough, she is interested in what she can continue to learn, how she can improve, and what new possibilities might emerge from that commitment.

So the real question is not “How much do I love this?” but rather:“Am I willing to keep showing up and improving in order to become great, rather than staying good?” - Julia Slyunkova

Beyond the First Impression

Julia’s approach to creating also shapes how she hopes people will experience her work. She invites viewers to look at a piece from a distance, move closer to examine its details, and then step back again to see the composition differently. An artwork might initially appear to be an abstract landscape, but upon closer inspection reveals the arrangement of colorful glass pieces, subtle variations, carefully constructed forms, and details that define the grass or horizon. What seems simple from a distance becomes more complex as the viewer spends time with it.

"In my mosaic practice, I think a lot about the intentional placement of each tile or broken piece—nothing is ever random." - Julia Slyunkova

Julia enjoys the possibility that her work can reveal more of itself gradually, looking closely can change the initial impression, offering a different appreciation for the finished piece. This attention to detail reflects what she has learned through creating, becoming more comfortable loosening her grip on perfectionism and appreciating beauty without always feeling compelled to improve or correct something.

Art offers a way to slow down in a world that often encourages people to rush from one responsibility to the next, it can bring attention back to the joy of creating, of looking. In the midst of political conflict, social inequality, environmental crises, and the anxiety these realities can create, she sees value in making things that bring beauty into the world without ignoring its difficulties.

"I believe it is possible to create art with powerful storytelling that is also visually pleasing, while staying true to one’s values and artistic vision. Themes such as overconsumption, animal endangerment, and the upliftment of local communities will continue to inspire my mosaic practice." - Julia Slyunkova

Creativity, Connection & Community

Before becoming an artist, Julia had not fully recognized how powerfully art could connect people through shared experiences, emotions, ideas, and the time invested in making something. She describes art as a way to communicate, help people feel seen and understood, and create a sense of belonging, as well as bring people together through experiences they might not otherwise have shared.

That belief extends to her understanding of creative community, where she values spaces that artists can present their work professionally, discover unfamiliar practices, and learn about the people and processes behind the art. Seeing another artist’s work is valuable in itself, but having the opportunity to hear their story, understand their challenges, and exchange ideas can make the experience even more meaningful.

She also believes that creative communities benefit when members have opportunities to contribute and participate. Sharing knowledge and learning from one another helps artists develop while making the wider creative environment more connected and supportive. Her involvement with mosaic organizations and her work through Noname Studio Mosaic reflect this interest in making art and contributing to the medium’s continued exploration.

A Creative Practice That Keeps Growing

Her practice brings together two parts of her experience: the analytical thinking and attention to detail developed through her professional career, and the curiosity and experimentation that keep her artistic work moving forward. Rather than treating these as opposing sides of her life, she has found ways for them to compliment one another.

Her journey is an example that a creative life does not need to follow a single path, it can develop alongside a career, change through practice, and become more meaningful as skills deepen and new questions emerge. Passion matters, but so does patience, discipline, curiosity, and the willingness to keep going when the work is difficult. We are grateful to have spent time learning about Julia’s practice and perspective, her work shows us how creative lives can emerge, and what it means to keep making, learning, and sharing along the way.