Julie Speidel

Julie Speidel

  • Artist’s Statement

    Julie was raised on the Eastside of Lake Washington before moving to Europe with her mother and sister at 12 years old. She attended boarding schools in Spain and England, then returned to America where she studied at the University of Washington and the Cornish College of the Arts. She made jewelry, making items in copper and other materials, before becoming a sculptor.
    She made her first trip to Japan in the late 1980’s, where she encountered traditional Japanese woodblock prints. She had always loved the Japanese aesthetic, and came back to the United States with a new curiosity about experimenting with woodblock printing, which she did alongside her sculpture, throughout her 35-year career.
    The Works on Japanese Paper have renewed Speidel’s appreciation for how beautiful two-dimensional art can be. She’s been especially gratified by the opportunity to has afforded her to experiment with color. As a sculptor, her use of color was monochromatic; but in her Works on Japanese Paper she is able to combine color in a way that is fresh to her.
    Speidel often works at the intersection between figuration and abstraction, suggesting the human form through combinations of elegantly simple shapes. At times, her sculptures appear to diverge from the figure altogether, but they often preserve the basic components of bodies: circles and ovals evocative of heads, vertical forms echoing limbs. This, perhaps, is among the most remarkable aspects of Speidel’s sculpture; its capacity to engage in dialogue with the world–not only with its natural elements, but also with the whole of human history and art.
    Speidel has been exhibited widely and her sculptures are included in many prestigious private and public collections across the US and abroad, including the Tacoma Art Museum, US embassies, the Oracle Collection, the Boeing Collection and the Nordstrom Collection.
    RBG is an honoring of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and is part of the Kevin & Mary Daniels Permanent Collection.

  • Website

    Juliespeidel.com

Showing all 3 artworks

Julie Speidel

Julie Speidel Hardcover - signed by the artist
Printed Art book 112 pages $75.00

Julie Speidel

The Center Holds -signed, limited edition
Printed Art book 232pgs $120.00

Julie Speidel

RBG
Oil on handmade Japanese paper