Artist Biography

Liliya Muglia was born in Lviv, Ukraine, where she entered the world of fine art at an early age. Immersed in classical training from the age of nine, she studied drawing, perspective, composition, and art history in a rigorous academic environment. As a teenager, she attended The Academy of Arts for the Gifted in Lviv, where she developed the disciplined technical foundation that continues to define her work as a classical realist painter.

Alongside her artistic education, Liliya earned a master’s degree in pharmacy in Lviv. Following the Chernobyl disaster and the economic collapse that followed, she immigrated to Canada in 1987. In Toronto, she re-qualified as a pharmacist at the University of Toronto and worked in the profession for several years, even as her dedication to traditional fine art remained a constant thread in her life.

In Canada, Liliya resumed formal art training at the Academy of Realist Art (ARA) in Toronto, where she studied for seven years and graduated in 2013. She then advanced her education at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence under Maestro John Angel. These ateliers, rooted in the curriculum of the Old French Academy, reinforced her mastery of academic realism and deepened her connection to the techniques of the Old Masters, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio.

Today, Liliya is a full-time professional artist based in Toronto, Canada. She works primarily in oils, creating imaginative realism grounded in classical technique. Her paintings draw inspiration from Roman mythology, allegorical feminine motifs, Italian landscapes, and her Ukrainian cultural heritage. Through carefully designed compositions and layered paint handling, she explores the subtleties of the human condition and the emotional depth of her subjects.

Liliya’s artistic process begins with studies in charcoal and conte drawn from live models. She develops themes much like an author constructing a novel, refining characters, settings, and symbolic details through multiple variations before committing to a final canvas. Her work often centers on the resilience and complexity of feminine experience—expressed through both direct figurative representation and symbolic forms.

Positioned within the contemporary classical-realist revival, Liliya is part of a global movement of artists who have returned to atelier-based training and representational painting. Her art merges technical precision with narrative imagination, inviting viewers into visually rich, emotionally charged worlds that honour the past while speaking to modern sensibilities.

Message from the Artist: Why I Create Art

Growing up in the Soviet Union in Lviv, Ukraine, I lived in a world where self-expression carried profound risks. A single word — “unreliable” — had the power to shape a person’s entire future: their education, career, housing, and even the food stores they were allowed to enter. From childhood, I learned to guard my thoughts, suppress my aspirations, and hide any individuality that might draw unwanted attention.

In this restrictive environment, I experienced personal heartbreaks and emotional hardships. Art became my only safe space — the place where I could express my fears, hopes, and dreams without consequence. Through drawings and watercolours in my notebooks, I found a quiet voice in a world that demanded silence. My parents recognized my talent and worked tirelessly to give me opportunities to study, doing everything they could to find teachers and materials that were difficult to obtain in the Soviet system.

In 1987, during a time of national instability, I received permission to travel to Canada. Like many parents leaving the USSR, I was required to leave my young son behind temporarily — the most painful decision of my life — made so I could work and support my family in a collapsing economy. In Canada, I experienced freedom for the first time and began rebuilding my life as a woman, mother, and artist.

This transition from a closed society to a free one allowed my artistic voice to flourish. What began as a sanctuary became my source of strength. Art evolved into my way of reclaiming my identity, healing past wounds, and transforming painful memories into beauty, meaning, and narrative.

Today, everything I create is shaped by the journey that brought me here — a journey from silence to expression, from restriction to freedom, from vulnerability to empowerment.

Welcome to my world of empowerment through art.

Awards & Publications

Selected awards and recognitions for Liliya Muglia’s classical realist and imaginative realist paintings:

• 2022 – 16th ARC Salon Competition – Imaginative Realism – Semi-Finalist
• 2022 – Portrait Society of Canada – Portrait – Certificate of Excellence Award
• 2021 – Portrait Society of Canada – Portrait – Best in Show Award
• 2021 – Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine – Featured Paintings (Landscape, Figurative, Flowers)
• 2020 – PingYao Online Art Exhibition – Figurative – Gold Award in Oil Painting
• 2020 – Portrait Society of Canada – Portrait – Certificate of Merit Award
• 2020 – 15th ARC Salon Competition – Still Life – Finalist
• 2020 – Richeson Competition – Still Life – Finalist

Selected Exhibitions

Early Exhibitions – Ukraine

• 1980 – Art Spilka, Ukraine – Group Show – Portraits
• 1983 – Lviv Museum of History, Lviv, Ukraine – Group Show – Flight

Exhibitions in Canada

• 1997 – Peel Region Civic Center, Brampton – Group Show – Portraits
• 1998 – Brampton City Hall, Brampton – Solo Show – Escapes
• 1999 – KUMF Gallery, High Park – Solo Show – Apothecary
• 2008 – ARA – Junction Toronto – Group Show – Christmas Show
• 2009 – ARA – Junction Toronto – Group Show – Christmas Show
• 2010 – ARA – Junction Toronto – Group Show – Christmas Show
• 2011 – ARA – Junction Toronto – Group Show – Christmas Show
• 2012 – ARA – Junction Toronto – Group Show – Christmas Show
• 2013 – ARA – Junction Toronto – Group Show – Christmas Show
• 2015 – Mira Godard Gallery, Yorkville – Group Show – All About Paris
• 2015 – Nuit Blanche, Toronto – Solo Exhibit – Burlesque
• 2016 – Super Wonder Gallery, Toronto – Group Show – Portrait Show
• 2017 – KUMF Gallery, Etobicoke – Group Show – Figure Painting
• 2019 – ARA – Villa Colombo, North York – Group Show – Christmas Show
• 2019 – Fired Up Steakhouse, Port Credit – Solo Show – Italian Landscapes
• 2020 – KUMF Gallery, Etobicoke – Group Show – Colours of Autumn
• 2020 – KUMF Gallery, Etobicoke – Group Show – Reflections & Dreams
• 2021 – KUMF Gallery, Etobicoke – Group Show – Philosophy of Objects
• 2021 – General Consulate of Ukraine, Etobicoke – Group Show – Countenance
• 2021 – General Consulate of Ukraine, Etobicoke – Group Show – Skovoroda’s Universus
• 2022 – KUMF Gallery, Etobicoke – Group Show – Stand with Ukraine
• 2022 – KUMF Gallery, Etobicoke – Group Show – Spirit of Freedom
• 2023 – Auction Sale, Etobicoke – Auction – Fundraising Show

International Exhibitions

• 2023 – Parcus Gallery, Aistersheim, Austria
• 2023 – Parcus Gallery – Espace Sorbonne, Paris, France
• 2023 – Le Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
• 2025 – Fight For Freedom Beyond Beauty Art Gala, Toronto, Canada – Featured Artist – Event Video