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ARTIST'S STATEMENT  The genesis of my artwork comes from my life-long love of photography and from my interest in collecting discarded objects. When I was a child I dug up treasures in my backyard and collected items from the sidewalk on junk day. At 15, after ten years of taking my own pictures, I began buying old photographs at flea markets. The language of photographic images and the photographic objects themselves fascinated me. Other well-worn, everyday objects had also found their way into my collection of things, including cameras, books, letters, buttons, doilies, and other domestic odds and ends. These found objects, or artifacts, served as a physical means of connecting to another person and another time. They conveyed information on who people were and how they lived their lives, but most importantly they had the “aura” of having been from a previous time. These early collecting habits and my continued passion for the photographic image have become my medium for interpreting the world. My study of the history of art and my experience working with museum collections also have had an impact on my art making. I respond most to objects that reflect the vision or handiwork of another person. I am interested in the way the objects reveal personal histories, memories and human habits, as well as how they communicate their former function. But also important is an object's aesthetic potential and how it can be reconfigured to express my ideas. My work is interested in time, deterioration and mortality. Photographs and pieces from my collage and assemblage series have been shown around the country and are included in private collections, both nationally and internationally. ~ Julia Nelson-Gal ©2007 Julia Nelson-Gal. All rights reserved. |
