Artist Statement

Highly influenced by her upbringing in the Midwest, Julia Heatherwick sees her work as earth bound and playful. She pulls her imagery from memories of her childhood and love of the prarieland. She strives to find subtle tension yet balance between the organic figures and richly textured and layered surfaces. Working in series, she creates abstracted narratives documenting the dialogue between imagination, nature and art.

Using encaustics, oil paint and found material give the surface a living, organic quality. She thickly layers and digs into the surface to reveal or hide the history of each piece. Looking closely at the surface you can see through multiple layers of wax finding faint traces of past imagery while smelling the sweet fragrance of beeswax.

Currently, Julia is the Gallery Director and Curator at The Empty Space Theatre and Gallery in Bakersfield, California. Focusing on bringing contemporary and forward thinking group and solo exhibitions to the community, Julia has curated challenging exhibits such as “Spirit Companions; The Art of the Spirit Doll”, “Women’s Work”, and “Now THAT’S Funny” mail art exhibit and lecture.

In 1995 Julia received her BFA in Printmaking from Illinois State University. Furthering her education, she has done a residency at Vinalhaven Press in Maine and attended classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book Arts. While a student, she exhibited annually in juried exhibitions at Illinois State University. Professionally, she has exhibited at the Fog Gallery, Maine; McLean County Arts Center and the Bradley University Juried Print and Drawing Exhibition, Illinois; Maestri Gallery, Kern County Museum: Celebration of our Heritage Juried Exhibition, The Empty Space Gallery, Bakersfield Museum of Art: Juried Fine Art Small Works Exhibition, and UCLA, California.