Skip to main content

Six of the Best, Part 24: Svava Thordis Juliusson

Part 24 of an interview series in which I invite artists to respond to six questions about art, process, and creativity  (previous interviews: 123456789101112, 13, 141516171819202122, 23). Svava Thordis Juliusson is a Canadian artist who takes unprepossessing objects, and makes them into installations and sculptures that magically discover their hidden sensuous capacities. You can see her a picture of her studio, too, at the art blog Hyperallergic.


"Avalanche (white)"

PH: What medium do you chiefly use, and why?

STJ: Since 2008, I have been working primarily with materials that are composed of plastic, various sizes and colors of cable ties, clothing tags, fencing and found plastic. 

The cable tie - an ordinary, utilitarian object - was the original catalyst and soon after it became the building block for constructing singular objects and/or for connecting one thing to another within installations. Because the material, in its original context, is not precious, I approach making the objects and installations in a direct and intuitive way. It’s sort of like drawing with my eyes closed, or drawing with my body. And though I have an idea/concept of what I want the work to look like, I can allow the material to dictate or guide the process until the right shape, or a narrative that makes sense, emerges. 

PHWhat piece are you currently working on?

STJ: I’m actually working out some ideas in aluminum - another abundant and ubiquitous material. It’s the start of a project/investigation, which draws from scientific graphs, charts and mythological narratives around earthquakes. 

"Install B"
PHWhat creative surprises are happening in the current work?

STJ: I am surprised by how great it is to come back to working with metal. It’s shiny - said the gold fish - and immensely satisfying to manipulate. I started my formal education as a jeweler, so the process, the material and its potential is familiar.

PHWhat other artistic medium (or non-artistic activity) feeds your creative process?

STJ: Reading, attending openings, going to the theatre and surrounding myself with other artists talking about art, feeds, not so much my process, but my need for an aesthetic experience. Sitting in my office at home or in the studio looking out the window, walking, taking long baths and/or doing laundry helps me focus and direct my energy on my work.

"Aluminum" (work in progress)
PHWhat's the first ever piece of art you remember making?

STJ: It was a pencil drawing of a scene from Chaucer on a 4 x 6 piece of drywall for a grade 11 English class project. Our teacher asked us to respond to the text in whatever way we wanted, so I drew. It was awkward and provisional but I do remember feeling confident and very happy to display it.

PHFinally, and you can answer this in any way you want: why are you an artist?

STJ: I honestly don’t know what else I would be. I am compelled to make stuff, to examine my environment and respond to it, critically and aesthetically.

If you liked this interview, and you'd like to keep up to date with the series, why not Subscribe, or sign-up via Google Connect, using one of the options over on the right? Thanks, and keep creating.

Popular posts from this blog

Restoring my Printing Press

I've just finished restoring and assembling my large etching press -- a six week process involving lots of rust removal, scrubbing with steel wool, and repainting. Here is a photo of the same kind of press from the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative: And here is a short YouTube video of me testing the press, making sure the motor still works after nearly seven years of lying in storage:

Brancusi in Plastic

Artist Mary Ellen Croteau is showing these columns made from recycled plastic cartons and lids in the window of the Columbia College bookstore on Michigan Avenue. They are a playful homage to Brancusi's "Endless Columns", with a serious environmental message for our times: Image copyright Inhabitat.com and Mary Ellen Croteau Mary Ellen also runs a wonderful experimental art gallery in a window space in west Chicago, called Art on Armitage . I will be exhibiting a mixed media piece there during August 2012.

How to etch a linoleum block

Linoleum as a material for printmaking has been used for nearly a hundred years now. Normally, you cut an image out using special gouges similar to woodcut tools, cutting away the lino around the image you want to print. This is called relief printmaking, because if you look at the block from the side, the material that remains stands up in relief from the backing material. You then roll ink with a brayer over the surface of the block, place paper over it, and either print by hand or run it through a press. You can do complex things this way (for example, reduction linocuts), but the beauty of the process is that it is quick, simple, and direct. Incised lino block, from me.redith.com Etched lino block, from Steve Edwards A few years ago, I saw some prints that were classified as coming from etched linoleum blocks, and I loved the textures I saw in them. In the last few months, I've been trying to use this technique in my own studio, learning about it as one does these d