Steppe

Steppe is where the work begins. Gali started the series in London in 2011, out of a longing for the light of home: the open plains of Kazakhstan, where land meets sky with nothing in between.

The paintings are made on the floor. She sweeps thin washes of pigment across the canvas with broad brushes, lets each layer dry before the next, and finishes in slow-drying oil with her fingertips. The result reads like a monumental watercolour; the writer Nico Kos Earle has compared the series to Mark Rothko’s colour fields and Turner’s skies.

Many paintings take their names from real places on the steppe: Aral, after the inland sea; Kaindy, the mountain lake where a drowned forest still stands; Djida, the silver-leaved oleaster whose flowers scent the river valleys in late spring. In 2015 the series was shown at the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi.

“When immersed within the barren lands, a deep feeling of nothingness washes over you, but it’s the perfect ‘nothing’.” Aiganym Gali

Read more in the Long Read: Aiganym Gali in conversation with Nico Kos Earle.

 

Nauryz, 90 x 90 cm – Aiganym Gali
Nauryz, 90 x 90 cm – Aiganym Gali

Nauryz

90 x 90 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Akku, 200 x 140 cm – Aiganym Gali
Akku, 200 x 140 cm – Aiganym Gali

Akku

200 x 140 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas

Altyn Emel, 120 x 180 cm – Aiganym Gali
Altyn Emel, 120 x 180 cm – Aiganym Gali

Altyn Emel

120 x 180 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Aral I, 2015, 200 x 200 cm, acrylic and oil on canvas – Aiganym Gali
Aral I, 2015, 200 x 200 cm, acrylic and oil on canvas – Aiganym Gali

Aral I

2015 | 200 x 200 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas

Caspian 2, 150 x 120 cm – Aiganym Gali
Caspian 2, 150 x 120 cm – Aiganym Gali

Caspian 2

150 x 120 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas

Djida, 121 x 182 cm – Aiganym Gali
Djida, 121 x 182 cm – Aiganym Gali

Djida

2014 | 121 x 182 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas

Ainalayin, 200 x 140 cm – Aiganym Gali
Ainalayin, 200 x 140 cm – Aiganym Gali

Ainalayin

200 x 140 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Karli Kis, 183 x 183 cm – Aiganym Gali
Karli Kis, 183 x 183 cm – Aiganym Gali

Karli Kis

2014 | 183 x 183 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Nadir, 121 x 182 cm – Aiganym Gali
Nadir, 121 x 182 cm – Aiganym Gali

Nadir

121 x 182 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Sagim, 150 x 95 cm – Aiganym Gali
Sagim, 150 x 95 cm – Aiganym Gali

Sagim

2015 | 150 x 95 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas

Scythians, 230 x 200 cm – Aiganym Gali
Scythians, 230 x 200 cm – Aiganym Gali

Scythians

230 x 200 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Tan Ata, 180 x 120 cm – Aiganym Gali
Tan Ata, 180 x 120 cm – Aiganym Gali

Tan Ata

2014 | 180 x 120 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas

Kaindy, 150 x 95 cm – Aiganym Gali
Kaindy, 150 x 95 cm – Aiganym Gali

Kaindy

150 x 95 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Tomris, 180 x 150 cm – Aiganym Gali
Tomris, 180 x 150 cm – Aiganym Gali

Tomris

180 x 150 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Muzdai, 121 x 182 cm – Aiganym Gali
Muzdai, 121 x 182 cm – Aiganym Gali

Muzdai

121 x 182 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas | Private collection

Zharalu, 200 x 140 cm – Aiganym Gali
Zharalu, 200 x 140 cm – Aiganym Gali

Zharalu

200 x 140 cm | acrylic, oil on canvas

A selection of works from the Steppe collection

In conversation about Steppe

OTHER SERIES

ÜNDES series by Aiganym GaliÜNDES series by Aiganym Gali
Tengri. Light Works series by Aiganym GaliTengri. Light Works series by Aiganym Gali
Creation Myth series by Aiganym GaliCreation Myth series by Aiganym Gali

ÜNDES

Tengri. Light Works

Creation Myth

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