RhoForma STORY
Yulia Parfenova is a contemporary artist based in Switzerland who uses geological memory as a central theme in her artistic exploration and invites people to step into the world of RhoForma art.
RhoForma IS A LANGUAGE
RhoForma is a language that defines the way I create. RhoForma is tactile — raw, rough, and imperfect. Its forms are unpredictable and never repeat themselves. RhoForma is not manufactured.
RhoForma emerged from a meticulous, scientist’s-eye way of observing how nature shapes, erodes, and transforms matter. It reflects my strong intent to translate this understanding into art and design and make nature's logic visible, tangible, and present in everyday environments.
RhoForma IS FOR PEOPLE
As the world grows louder and faster, I often find it difficult to stay present. RhoForma is my answer to that feeling — a grounding anchor meant to remind you to pause and regain focus. Through raw textures, visual simplicity, and naturally formed patterns, it is made to be a counterpoint to a world saturated with constant stimuli.
RhoForma IS FOR LIVING SPACES
RhoForma is minimalistic in form yet rich in material presence. It is meant not to dominate a room, but to live in a harmony with the spaces it inhabits and act as architectural extension of the space adding visual depth, balance and clarity to it.
SHAPED BY NATURE, NOT BY HAND
I intentionally step away from the traditional artistic approach to build a composition, as I see it rather as an artificial constraint. Instead, RhoForma focuses on natural pattern formation — the level of complexity at which nature operates.
I developed my technique around two principles of natural formation: erosion process and layering. There my role is not to create a work but to curate a natural interaction between materials with different physical properties. RhoForma forms on its own; I guide the conditions.
ABOUT ME
Originally trained as a scientist — first in chemistry (MSc), then in biology (PhD) — I see my art practice as a continuation of my laboratory work, where working with natural materials and experimentation remain central. My artistic voice was shaped during my years in the atelier of Janka Stemmle (Migros Klubschule, Zürich), where I discovered my fascination with patterns and encountered salt as an alternative artistic material.
What began as an experiment gradually became my language.