JULIA COUZENS: FROM PAINTING TO SCULPTURE, THE EVOLUTION OF A VISIONARY ARTIST
| by Maria Rosaria Roseo |
Art is an ever-evolving journey, a boundless quest through forms, materials and meanings. This is the case of a visionary artist whose career began in the world of painting and then unexpectedly and fascinatingly landed in sculpture, using textiles as her main medium.
Julia Couzens, born and raised in Auburn, California, received her MFA in 1990 from UC Davis. She currently lives and works between Merritt Island on the Sacramento River and Los Angeles.
http://www.juliacouzens.com/
ART AS A FLUID AND INDEFINABLE PROCESS
This artist’s practice is distinguished by a plastic, “contaminated” and fluid approach that defies convention. “I don’t need to call something ‘painting’ or ‘sculpture,'” she declares, highlighting a desire to break the barriers of traditional definitions, to free her work from rigid patterns and categories, to focus on process, exploring the emergent qualities of materials such as wire and grids. The wire is supposedly a dimensional line and the metal grids a kind of rigid, open-weave canvas. The artist thus works within a context of possibilities and questions, embracing the uncertainty and unpredictability of art.
In addition to art production, Couzens is an author of essays for art catalogs, an activity that has profoundly influenced her way of perceiving and reflecting on art itself. For her, writing about art is an act of empathy and connection: “First the work, then the words,” she says, still emphasizing the priority of the visual dimension over the verbal one.
WORKS BETWEEN PRACTICE AND RESEARCH
In the 2018 exhibition Assembled, held at Patricia Sweetow Gallery in San Francisco, CA, the artist presented Little Stubby Bundles, a series of small sculptures and textural paintings made from textile fragments. These works tell stories of sensory life and inner journeys, emphasizing the interplay between materials and feelings. The choice on that occasion to create small works represents a radical decision, a gesture of resistance against the tendency toward grandiosity, inviting the viewer to discover complex worlds in contained spaces.
La relazione tra le opere di Couzens e lo spazio in cui sono collocate è altrettanto significativa. Le sue installazioni effimere infatti, ridefiniscono e ampliano il significato degli ambienti che le ospitano. Un esempio emblematico è Last Words, progetto esposto presso la University Library Gallery di Sacramento. Una grande opera tessile che avvolgeva le pareti della galleria con coperte di lana cucite, tulle e testi in filo metallico sospesi, che creavano un’atmosfera immersiva e accogliente, una sorta di abbraccio metaforico per gli spettatori. Ironicamente, il pubblico incontrava le parole effimere del progetto in una galleria ospitata all’interno di una biblioteca universitaria dove presumibilmente alcune delle ultime parole, “Last Words” appunto, sono invece conservate in modo permanente.
Among Julia Couzens’ most provocative projects is Textile Tag, a series of collages that rework advertising messages through needle and thread. This series, created as a response to gender bias in art advertisements, uses tools traditionally associated with the feminine to subvert stereotypical and established narratives. The result is a work of social critique that reflects on the power of visual language and the role of the artist in deconstructing clichés, banalities and clichés.
The artist works with poor and unconventional materials, such as pipe cleaners and textile fragments, challenging the consumerist culture that privileges what is new and expensive. “Twists of woven pipe cleaners can dance on a wall and sing,” he declares, giving voice to a philosophy that celebrates the inherent expressiveness of the material by making it a protagonist.
Couzens’ artistic evolution demonstrates how art can be a powerful tool for exploring social, cultural and personal issues. His works invite the audience to reflect, connect and discover the narratives hidden in materials and forms. In a complex world, his work is an ode to enchantment and the possibility of finding beauty in unpredictability.
