JULIJA
PILINOVICA
Visual Artist
Julija
Pilinovica
Julija Pilinovica is a Latvian visual artist whose practice brings together painting, performance and the expressive potential of the human body. Working primarily with large-scale paintings, she explores how movement, rhythm and physical presence can be transformed into permanent visual form.
Instead of depicting mobility, she uses movement itself as the creative act. Through an original painting method developed within her artistic practice, the body, particularly the feet, becomes the primary painting tool. Each work records a unique sequence of gestures, turning choreography into a lasting pictorial trace.
Her work examines the relationship between individual experience and collective memory, inviting viewers to reconsider the boundaries between performance and painting. Dance, for her, is understood as a universal language - one that exists beyond words, cultures and time.
Pilinovica graduated from the Latvian Academy of Arts, where she developed Dance Code, a performance-based painting project that investigates the intersection of choreography and contemporary painting. Her work has been presented in a solo exhibition in Latvia and continues to evolve through new interdisciplinary projects.
"I do not paint movement - I allow movement to paint itself."
DANCE CODE
Triptych 2026
A performance-based painting project
Movement becomes painting.
Dance becomes memory.
The body becomes the brush.
Acrylic on linen canvas
Wooden frame
162.5 × 174 cm each panel
Dance Code
Dance has accompanied humanity since its earliest history.
Long before written language, movement served as a universal form of communication between people, nature and ritual. Dance Code explores whether dance can exist after movement ends. The triptych was created through three independent performances in which acrylic paint was applied to the canvas by dancing with bare feet and dance shoes.
Each panel represents a different level of human interaction.
The first explores the individual body and inner rhythm.
The second investigates dialogue through partner dance.
The third expands into collective movement, where individual gestures dissolve into shared visual memory.
The title refers to the idea of a universal code similar to genetic information, a language existing beyond nationality, culture or spoken words. Rhythm, repetition, balance and bodily response become common elements that connect all people.
Dance Code is not a depiction of dance.
It is dance preserved as painting.
Instead of using traditional brushes, the paintings were created through live performance.
Diluted acrylic paint was poured directly onto linen canvas placed on the floor. Each performance lasted for the duration of the music. Every footprint, slide and turn became part of the final composition. The work documents movement rather than illustrating it.
INDIVIDUAL
Yellow represents personal identity and internal rhythm.
The marks were created during a solo improvised dance performed barefoot.
DIALOGUE
Red represents encounter.
Created through ballroom dance performed together with a partner wearing dance shoes.
Movement becomes communication.
COLLECTIVE
Grey symbolizes shared experience.
Five participants improvised freely, allowing individual gestures to merge into a single visual structure.
The painting becomes a record of collective movement.
© 2026 Julija Pilinovica