Julie V. Garner

Julie V. Garner is a self-taught, mixed media artist working primarily with photographs. Using a technique derived from the study of tapestry weaving, she combines multiple photos taken from a variety of perspectives to create a kinetic version of the original scene.

STATEMENT

Photography allows me to capture a scene. The process of cutting up and reconstructing that scene through weaving causes me to linger over every detail and get to know it well. In this way the street or building or field becomes a part of me and I feel deeply connected to it. Sense of place is extremely important to me and is a strong motivator for making my art.

I am particularly drawn to places that have been built or altered by humans. How people change their environment and then how that environment affects behavior has interested me for many years. It led me to become a specialist in Human Factors, a field I remain self-employed in. This affords me access to a wide variety of settings I may not have had the opportunity to visit otherwise, from prisons to factories to high tech settings and everything in between. I notice that each of them embodies it’s own character and exudes it’s own influence on those who enter. In each weaving I try to reflect some of that character, as I perceive it.

Each artwork involves several photographs taken from multiple angles and, if possible, different heights (e.g. from a stairway or parking structure). “Back Story” incorporates twenty-two separate images while most of the others involve approximately ten to fifteen. Once the final images are selected I print two of each and cut them into 3/8” strips which become the warp and weft. Use of perspective distortions enables me to achieve a sense of kineticism.

For more information, visit the artist’s website: www.julievgarner.com.
Contact: Julie V. Garner