Artist Statement
My artistic career has followed an unconventional path. Likewise, the artwork is unconventional, a hybrid of Western and Asian traditions. My education in art began early, surrounded as I was by the works of my grandmother, Carley Craig. She was a lifelong artist, a master of diverse media and genres. Growing up immersed in this creative milieu I developed a sensitivity to aesthetics and an appreciation of form, color and line. As an adult, my interest in art took a back seat to other career and life goals. But in the 1990’s, while living in Nagasaki and working at a Japanese university, I found myself deeply moved by the art and lifestyle of the Japanese. My five-year stay there utterly transformed me. I felt the old calling again, but with a new passion. In my mid-thirties by then, an irresistible need to create led me to pick up a brush for the first time since childhood. The conflicting impulses of following the Asian art aesthetic which I admire so much and the desire to explore themes from my Western art heritage led to the blend of styles and techniques I use today. I merge figure drawing with Japanese brush-work; I re-interpret traditional Chinese bird-and-flower paintings with a modern, American sensibility. I often add my red seal, a Chinese translation of my name, as an homage to the Asian art that so inspires me. What I do spans cultures and doesn’t fit neatly into any one category. This is another example of contemporary art of the Twenty-First century. For subject matter I look to sensual figures, serene still life studies, quirky animals and quiet landscapes. With only black sumi ink and select use of color, I strive for the art of suggestion, of subtlety, the art of leaving out. The goal of my work is to be simple and natural, to be unpretentiously lovely. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo Da Vinci Copyright© 2009 • All Rights Reserved www.juliekeatenreed.com • 352-250-4077