Bio
Julia Hensley is an artist born in Johannesburg, South Africa and living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She received her undergraduate painting degree from Boston University, where the legacies of Philip Guston, James Weeks, sculptor John Wilson and program founder, David Aronson influenced many. She currently devotes her studio practice to internal, personal development, with rare forays into public exhibition.
Statement
My studio practice centers on organizing two-dimensional space according to some inner imperative that craves both chaos and structure, control and breath. While the results are abstract, they stem from things seen and felt.
Lately a kind of existential musing fueled by climate anxiety pervades my thoughts. I draw solace and inspiration from the rocks, night sky, textures, plants and ancient landscapes of New Mexico, where I live. I marvel at human development; at how much we've learned and how far we have to go. Language, calligraphy, astronomy, archaeology and technology underpin and filter in.
Recently, certain drawings by Leonardo and a show of Basquiat I saw in Boston hover in mind, along with flashes of the Bayeaux Tapestry, Meso-American sculpture and graffiti. I marvel on my daily walks at trash and trees, phone poles and mountains, road signs and shadows, footprints in mud and snow.
I work in any medium that comes to hand, lately favoring the least water-intensive.While a colorist at heart, I'm at home within the rich constraints and architectural possibilities of black and white.