The exploration of these sources has led me through a web of interrelated ideas, motivations, meanings and memories. The idea of body-consciousness has to do not only with expectations and beauty standards, but also with body functions and responses such as sex, pregnancy, health and sickness, as well as such psychological reactions as self-denial, excess, self-destruction, survival, desire and obsession. The physicality of the pieces and their awkward, imperfect natures speak of humanity, empathy, compassion, strength and weakness. Some pieces appear to have created themselves partly as a result of their own use. Both Sucker and Systemic represent, on one level, ridiculous or dysfunctional systems that give evidence of having been used and mis-used. We question the history of these contraptions, which appear simultaneously strange and familiar. Still Life 2000, likewise, gives the impression that we, as viewers, have interrupted some process of creation or destruction. Other works, like Show, challenge the curiosity of the viewer, offering multiple levels of investigation and layers of visual information, meaning and experience. Show's outward appearance is somewhat imposing and slightly risque. The eye-shaped hole allows the opportunity to investigate what goes on inside- the internal world - and questions the depth of both our curiosity and our fears. These works resist simplistic analysis and call for the viewer to both transcend and investigate their initial responses and invest themselves in the processes of interaction, discovery and experience. Julie Day |
have always wanted to know the truth. I have rarely accepted conventional knowledge or methods of learning. Throughout our lives we are told to "tell the truth", but we soon realize that this is not as simply done as it is said. Truth is vulnerable to perception and perception to experience. It has become apparent that there are, in fact, many truths. This understanding leaves me hungry. Hunger is a powerful motivator, often irrational, and seemingly fearless. It is this hunger which has led me through many of the experiences which have shaped my perspective.
My work is an ongoing investigation of the cause and effect of experiences and the relationship of experience to intellect, biology, heredity and environment. The figurative references in the pieces stem from two direct sources: first, the pervasive body-consciousness of our culture, and second, a deep personal connection to humanitarian values and concerns which has been an equally defining characteristic of my identity.