JULIA CURRAN
In the Western capitalist system, we separate the brain from the body, tie shame to our most basic physical functions, and see ourselves as machines of production. Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at a young age, my work has always been a visual exploration of my gut instinct. In my work, I investigate what happens to connection when the body is beheaded, and the innate sensory wisdom we possess. My work draws from personal histories of shame and unsightly symptoms, navigating a broken healthcare system literally on steroids, and finding my way back into my body. This experience gave me a love for the body and an interest in how culture shapes the way we see our physical selves. My work is at once deeply biographical and metaphorical, and a shared experience that empowers the viewer to explore their own existence as a corporeal being in a vast and interconnected world. I seek to confront the challenges of our dangerously disembodied culture through highly crafted prints and paintings meant to reconnect us with our inner worlds, each other, and the substance of ourselves.
I am a classically trained visual artist with a background in the socio-politically conscious tradition of printmaking. Stylistically, I embrace masters of elaborate grotesque such as Hieronymus Bosch and Henry Darger, the absurd caricature of underground cartoonists like Robert Crumb, the intimacy of ex-votos, and home altars, and the powerful and vulnerable self-portraits of Frida Kahlo. Conceptually, I embrace Betye Saar’s commonly employed phrase “Extreme times call for extreme heroines.”
I received an MFA from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and was a Fulbright scholar in France where I apprenticed with artists throughout the country and led international collaborative curatorial projects. I have shown work nationally and internationally in exhibitions, fairs, and publications including the EA/B Fair at New York Print Week, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Musée Roger Quillot, Rochester Contemporary Arts Center, Hey! Magazine, Create Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine, and Friend of the Artist. I am currently based in Saint Louis, Missouri.
