In Balancing Act II, Yulia Lebedeva stages femininity as both poised and powerful. The work explores the tension between expectation and autonomy—the delicate equilibrium women are often required to maintain within personal and social spaces.

Yulia Lebedeva’s broader practice interrogates gender roles and the subtle choreography of relationships. Here, balance becomes both literal and metaphorical: a negotiation between strength and softness, control and vulnerability, performance and authenticity. The image suggests that composure itself can be an act of endurance.

Rendered in her signature saturated palette, the photograph combines stylisation with symbolic nuance. Colour intensifies mood, while gesture and posture carry layered meaning. What appears playful on the surface holds an undercurrent of commentary — a reflection on the invisible labour of self-presentation.

Produced in a limited edition, the print Balancing Act II extends Yulia Lebedeva’s exploration of femininity as something dynamic, self-aware and defiantly resilient.

Learn more about artist Yulia Lebedeva