COMMUNITY & CULTURE
JULIA FERNANDEZ-POL
My aim is to challenge the
notion of beauty by exploiting
materials through both color and
application. I derive forms from
acute observations of the natural
world to create the fantastical
and whimsical.
By meticulously crafting different
dynamic patterns and systems
taken and developed from the
natural world, the surfaces in a
sense, become overly decadent.
This opulent treatment, through
minute details, patterns and
vibrant colors, is juxtaposed
with dark flat surfaces,
developed from my interest in
experiencing color through the
presence of darkness. These
experiences vary from the depths
of the deepest ocean floor with
the fluorescent organisms, to the
darkness of the tallest
jungle canopies.
In nature, beauty is represented
in highly seductive ways through
patterns and colors, and while
they seem innocuous, they may
be extremely dangerous. The
idea of deception has been an
important part of my work, where
I am looking to find the dualities
through extreme contrasts that
develop from certain dynamics
and juxtapositions in nature.
Order/chaos, beauty/grotesque,
dangerous/harmless, revealing/
camouflaging and fractals/organic.
28
“Weeping Willows,” 2009
oil on canvas
54” x 72”
For more works by Natalia and Julia, and seven more
amazing female artists, Katy Stone, Lore Bert, Leila Daw,
Claudia DeMonte, Karen Kunc, Annette Morriss and
GAZELLE STL
Mary Joan Waid, visit the Atrium Gallery, located in the
Central West End’s Pierce Arrow Building. The current
exhibit, Women in the Atrium, is on display through July 3.