Daria Harlauta

Short Biography

Daria's practice grew out of years of archaeological and ethnographic expeditions across the Russian North, Finland, Sweden, and Norway, where she studied petroglyphs, ancient monuments, and the material traces of hunter-gatherer cultures. From this fieldwork she drew not only visual language but ritual structures, including ribbons, knots, and bells, which she reworks into a deeply personal artistic vocabulary. She works in seasonal cycles, producing dark, sealed winter works and light, gilded summer ones, and is currently developing two new series, 'Spring's Eve Dream' and 'Encapsulated'. She has been a member of the Professional Union of Artists of Russia since 2017. Her works are held in the V.A. Noskin Open Museum in St. Petersburg and in private collections worldwide.

Education

Daria holds a Bachelor's degree in Easel Painting from Herzen University, St. Petersburg (2009).

Exhibitions

Daria's selected solo exhibitions include 'Spring's Eve Dream' at the Kalininsky District Cultural Center, St. Petersburg (2025); 'The Music of Colour' at the Kalininsky District Cultural Center (2023); 'Wind from the East' at VRoomGames Art Space, St. Petersburg (2020); 'Cycle' with E. Larikova at SPb Gallery, St. Petersburg (2017); and 'Taste, Colour and Light' at Pu-erh Gallery, St. Petersburg (2016). She has also initiated collaborative projects including 'Synesthesia' with perfumer E. Dargel at Kochubey Mansion and Art Library (2022); 'Art as a Method of Cognition' with Planetarium researchers (2022); and '4 Elements of the Silk Road', an art and fashion collaboration at Master Gallery, St. Petersburg (2019). As a curator, she organised 'March Cat' and 'Winter Symphony' at Brulloff Art Gallery, St. Petersburg (2021) and 'Good Peter!' and 'Autumn Roads' at Bogach Loft, St. Petersburg (2020). Her group exhibitions include 'New Era' at Albe Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi (2021); 'Moscow and St. Petersburg: Two Capitals' across Hermitage-Vyborg, Peterhof, and Moscow (2020); the Contemporary Art Festival in Tel Aviv (2019); Project 8 at the V.A. Noskin Open Museum, St. Petersburg (2019); the International Art Week across St. Petersburg, Moscow, London, Budapest, and Rome (2015); and the Assembly of Arts in Moscow (2014).

Awards

Daria received second prize at the International Art Week, St. Petersburg (2015) and first prize at the Assembly of Arts, Moscow (2014).

Artistic Style

Daria describes her practice as mental archaeology and sensory alchemy, a combination of classical painting technique with deep research into ancient visual and ritual systems. Her fieldwork among petroglyphs and hunter-gatherer sites across Scandinavia and northern Russia gave her a repository of symbolic forms, including ribbons, knots, and bells, which recur throughout her work transformed by personal meaning. Her practice moves in seasonal cycles, and the contrast between her dark, enclosed winter works and her light, gilded summer ones gives the body of work a temporal and atmospheric rhythm. The resulting paintings hold archaeological reference and sensory immediacy in a sustained and carefully constructed dialogue.

Additional Information

Daria has been a member of the Professional Union of Artists of Russia since 2017. Her work is held in the V.A. Noskin Open Museum in St. Petersburg and in private collections across Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, Italy, China, Israel, and the USA.