Artist’s Statement
I do love nature more. It shows in my instinctual choice of composition and intuitive markmaking. My youth was one of blooming gardens of no particular theme - simply seasonal patchworks of colour. Memories of place and people are strongly stitched within the storylines of the flora, colour and texture presented at that time. My creative library of tactile and sensuous memories are an orchestra of a life well-lived and loved.
Biography
In the words of poet Lord Byron, I have found a sense of solitude in the language connecting art and place. Origins and current contexts of the contrasting landscapes of the Burnett, Downs and Gold Coast districts combined with their associated flora have stitched a rich history inspiring my passion for exploring and expressing the beauty and silence of nature through multiple forms of media. Studying the disciplines of ceramics and textiles (papermaking) at the University of Southern Queensland in the 90’s, I discovered a passion for manipulating earthly elements in an attempt to capture nature in serene and nostalgic moments in time through installation.
More recently I have integrated my innate attraction to rich colour and tactile finishes with the technique of contemporary fresco. Working alongside Italian master fresco artists Roberto & Rodolfo Guarnieri in November 2019, I was introduced to plaster as a media enabling me to merge sculpture and pure pigment on an otherwise flat surface. It seemed timely to be exposed to the history of a romantic culture and its place in my world as I found many facets of my personal and art life completing harmonic full circles.
As my work is a documentation of my origins, paths and memorable experiences, I am led to express these connections using new various media along my life's journey.
Influences
My art is currently a series of snapshots of my interpretation of sublime nature, particularly where I long to be. Using a wide range of mark-making tools I manipulate defining crests, gentle curves and intense blocks of colour and depth - all reflective of the infinite Australian landscape I experience in all its senses and many yearn for in their daily lives. I embrace the importance of humanity’s relationship with the landscape we share. The imperfectly perfect is an inspiration to behold.
Awards
2022 March, $5000 'Activate Small Grant' awarded by the Regional Development Arts Fund (RADF) Gold Coast sector. This was in support of an artist in residency opportunity to further develop my next exhibition '3 Cups Full' at Childers in November 2022.
Exhibitions
2023 August, Imperfectly Perfect, One Arts, Gold Coast
2023 July, Incognito Art Show, Sydney
2023 July, The Doyle's Art Awards, Gold Coast
2023 May, Facets of Fairholme, Fairholme College, Toowoomba
2022 November-2023 February, 3 Cups Full, Childers Art Space, Childers
2022 September, RME Downlands Art Exhibition, Toowoomba
2022 June, The Doyle’s Art Awards, Gold Coast
2022 June, Incognito Art Show, Sydney
2022 May, Facets of Fairholme, Fairholme College, Toowoomba
2022 March, Grammar Art Show, Toowoomba Grammar School, Toowoomba
2021 December – 2022 February, Linden Postcard Show, St Kilda, Melbourne
2021 November, 8x8 To Educate Exhibition, Dust Temple, Gold Coast
2021 September, RME Downlands Art Exhibition, Toowoomba
2021 June, d’Arcy Doyle Art Awards, Gold Coast
2021 June, Lethbridge 20 000 Small Scale Art Award, Brisbane
2021 June, Incognito Art Show, Sydney
2021 May, Facets of Fairholme, Fairholme College, Toowoomba
2021 March, Grammar Art Show Toowoomba Grammar School, Toowoomba
2020 November, 8x8 To Educate Exhibition, Dust Temple, Gold Coast
2020 September The Hive Art Gallery Official Opening, Gold Coast
1993 The Four of Us, Childers Art Space, Childers
Website
Showing all 2 artworks
Julie Middleton
Purnululu Glow
61 x 46 x 4 cm Framed: 64 x 49 x 5 cm Contemporary Fresco $950.00