Juli About

Juli About - Hearts ex voto - Fragility

Biografía del Artista: - Juli About's ceramics reflect the beauty of the body, intimacy and landscape - Juli About has found in ceramics a new form of artistic expression, enriched by her experience in the visual arts, theatre and contemporary jewellery. It was precisely the latter that allowed her to discover ceramics for the first time. In 2015, she was awarded the prestigious “French Art Workshops Competition” which highlights the artistic vitality and technical know-how of art professionals in each of the French regions. In 2021, she received the Special Mention of the “Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize”, an international art award that celebrates diversity and excellence in figurative visual arts. Juli is an expert in ceramics and especially enjoys experimenting with contrasts. White ceramic is often thought of as rigid, stable and immovable, but Juli manages to transform it into something fluid, changing and flexible. It has texture, volume and we want to touch it to see if it really is soft or not. For Juli, working with ceramics means dealing with the inherent fragility of the material, but also with the fragility of our being in the world. It is a material that must be cared for, and that invites us to care for the world. Juli uses a small percentage of paper in her ceramics, which allows her to create solid sculptures. For the exhibition “This is not a chair” she made ceramic cushions for chairs. Under her expert hands, ceramics can become hearts, hands, feet, torsos, seeds or underwear; all adorned with meticulous and beautiful details. Her work deals with the body; the boundary between the body and the landscape; the porosity of the body in its environment; what comes in, what comes out, what nourishes, what hurts. How the link between the inside and the outside is told; between oneself and others. She questions the body, intimacy and the space that surrounds us. In her works we find reflections on the female body, its vulnerability and its pleasure, childhood and the earth. Votive offerings, which are very present in her ceramics, are magical objects that contain embodied prayers and which Juli relates to childhood and the fragmentation of the body that seeks to restore its integrity. “Working with votive offerings is a way of talking about the whole body. The part for the whole. A global metonymy. We are part of the whole. Part of the landscape. The body is a landscape within a landscape. A kind of votive offering to the whole of nature.” Hearts is a series that began after the loss of her mother. As in the work on votive offerings, it is a way of talking about the whole body. For Juli, it is essential to take care of ourselves, of each individual, as a fragment of the whole. It is a global approach, an exploration of what connects us to the world. It is a way of being attentive to the world. Her work helps her heal wounds, overcome fears, grow... in short, to live. Julio About was born in Avignon in 1974 Currently lives and works in Montfrin June 15, 2023 Lucia Duenas

Stamped porcelain; partial glaze (gold) and antique red trimmings. High-temperature firing, partial glaze and low-temperature firing for gilding. Hook for hanging on the back. Under Juli About's hands, ceramics suddenly become fluid, changeable and flexible. It has texture, it has volume and we want to touch it to see if it is really soft or not. Juli uses ceramics with a small percentage of paper, which allows her to create solid sculptures. "Working with porcelain means dealing with the inherent fragility of the material, but also with the fragility of our being in the world. It is a material that must be cared for, and that invites us to care for the world." Juli About