Portugal
Julie van Riel
Julie van Riel (1999) is a sculptor who works with the slow transformations of matter. She is drawn to the passing of time and the attempt to hold it still. She works with a broad range of materials, and researches how one material influences the state of another, leaving traces through contact and duration.
She studied sculpture at KASK in Ghent, Belgium, did a residency at Palmyra Sculpture Centre in Mallorca, and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Glass, Ceramics, Art & Science in Lisbon.
Julie van Riel (1999) is a sculptor who works with material transformation. She is fascinated by the things that are constantly changing around us but often go unnoticed. Such as metals slowly corroding by the force of water or stone or ceramic degradation. She is drawn to these moments where matter transforms itself and where time becomes visible.
She approaches her sculptures as something that continues to shift after she touches it. Her work often starts with a material stain or an oxidation process. She follows these transformations and creates conditions in which one material can affect another. Research plays an important role in her practice, moving between geology, natural sciences, alchemy, craft traditions and observation of the everyday environment. She is interested in how landscapes archive time, how water carries memory, how traces are preserved in soil layers, minerals, erosion patterns or crystallized structures.
She works with different materials, such as glass, clay, stone, metals, textiles, plants, salt and water. Where she searches for moments where growth and decay meet. Through these material transformations, she focuses on the passing of time and the traces it leaves behind.
