SALT artists - Julie Read

Julie Read

Statement
My aim when making art is to produce objects/images that intrigue the viewer and in the case of my most recent work is accessible to a wide audience, drawing upon their personal interpretations and experience to fully engage in the work. My art is based on ideas of existence, who we are and what makes us different to the next person, something that fascinates many.
From each of the 10 cast navels used in previous works, the construction of small contour drawings have evolved that are based on these negative forms. In this sense these drawings can be seen to correspond to birthplaces, birthrights and more obviously land mass in a medium that can be seen as very cold and impersonal, immediately depersonalizing the viewer from the very intimate area of the body and subject of the drawings.
Since working on a residency in Basel in 2001 I have worked with slides of these line drawings to create site specific works around both the interior and exterior walls of the studio, courtyard and flat.
More recent work involves 2 digital animations to engage and involve the viewer in a multi-sensory experience working to create a strong presence of being. Two navels pump in and out in sequence with breathing from these individuals. As the viewer stands within the projected animations the feeling is visceral, of closeness and somewhat uncomfortable forcing your thoughts on your own breath.
Future plans include research into speech, more specifically how individuals speak the same letters forming words in our own language but these are eminently different depending on our cultural and geographical upbringing. I am interested in the mouth movements and how, through years of practice and training from birth in speaking limited sounds, we then find new sounds almost impossible. Through the recording of voices using specialist Electromagnetic Articulograph monitors, the movement of the areas of the tongue during speech will produce linear video footage. I propose to use this data for interpretation for 2 dimensional drawings that will be further used in photographic interior domestic settings.


								Julie Read Statement My aim when making art is to produce objects/images that intrigue the viewer and in the case of my most recent work is accessible to a wide audience, drawing upon their personal interpretations and experience to fully engage in the work. My art is based on ideas of existence, who we are and what makes us different to the next person, something that fascinates many. From each of the 10 cast navels used in previous works, the construction of small contour drawings have evolved that are based on these negative forms. In this sense these drawings can be seen to correspond to birthplaces, birthrights and more obviously land mass in a medium that can be seen as very cold and impersonal, immediately depersonalizing the viewer from the very intimate area of the body and subject of the drawings. Since working on a residency in Basel in 2001 I have worked with slides of these line drawings to create site specific works around both the interior and exterior walls of the studio, courtyard and flat. More recent work involves 2 digital animations to engage and involve the viewer in a multi-sensory experience working to create a strong presence of being. Two navels pump in and out in sequence with breathing from these individuals. As the viewer stands within the projected animations the feeling is visceral, of closeness and somewhat uncomfortable forcing your thoughts on your own breath. Future plans include research into speech, more specifically how individuals speak the same letters forming words in our own language but these are eminently different depending on our cultural and geographical upbringing. I am interested in the mouth movements and how, through years of practice and training from birth in speaking limited sounds, we then find new sounds almost impossible. Through the recording of voices using specialist Electromagnetic Articulograph monitors, the movement of the areas of the tongue during speech will produce linear video footage. I propose to use this data for interpretation for 2 dimensional drawings that will be further used in photographic interior domestic settings.