Gestalten Book Launch: Andipa, London
"When I say my work is about humanity, it has been more specifically about the relationship between the individual and the society, originality, identity and more recently connectivity and continuity..."
My work has always been about humanity. I use the body as a metaphor for the ideas and the various subjects that interest me. I also like the way that figurative sculpture engages the viewer in a very direct way. I have been working mostly in 1:1 scale since 2000.
As a sculptor, I am also interested in sculptural, formal themes such as mass, volume, texture and light. The latter has mostly been explored through my use of a material I have been working with, for almost 3 years now: sheets of tin-plated steel, which have been used to make bottle caps (crown corks). I use the leftovers from the sheets, which have hundreds of holes punched in them, and I build up figures and forms. The surface is highly reflective and so the reflection of the light becomes a component of the work. Prior to working with this material, I have been working with a wide range of untraditional materials: chicken wire, earth, salt, sugar, wax, ect...
I am still making sculptures with chicken wire. It also allows me to make works that are, literally open; see through, where the inside is as important as the outside. Where the space is not limited to the outside of the sculpture but is also continued inside. When looking closely at the inside of the sculptures, one finds him/herself in a seemingly abstract world, reminiscent of a nervous system or neurons or other similar patterns found in nature, much like a Jackson Pollock painting. It also serves as a metaphor for my fascination with continuity and connectivity, which was further developed through my study of fractal geometry and chaos theory, for my performance “Everything That Happens”, which was presented on Town Hall Square, in Copenhagen, in August 2009.
When I say my work is about humanity, it has been more specifically about the relationship between the individual and the society, originality, identity and more recently connectivity and continuity. Not only the connection between humans but also the connection between humans and their environment, both micro and macro. I think it is a very actual subject as we are right now struggling to define our place in our environment and how to best inhabit it and be a part of it as opposed to seeing ourselves outside of and above it.
However it is important for me that my work remains open to different interpretations and functions on many levels. It carries a wide range of references; social, political, sexual, religious, scientific, artistic, ect... But I do not provide answers. It is important for me that my works ask questions rather than answer them.
- Julie Tremblay
