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Julia Turner
"So much of what I’m doing in the studio is about digging into a process or material that feels familiar and drawing out qualities that are unexpected. I’m endlessly curious about the tension between tradition and evolution, and my pieces are the visual result of my constant circling around that."
Julia Turner’s work is driven by a continuous exploration of materials and techniques from diverse disciplines. Her studio tables are piled with small experiments in form and surface which she arranges and re-arranges, finding tensions, creating compositions, moving ideas forward, and developing the strongest impulses into finished work. She freely combines everything that interests her; mixing hot and cold connections, carving and fabricating, wood and gold, traditional enamel and industrial paint. Her work reflects a fascination with the boundary between the human-built and natural worlds, the beauty of accidental collaborations between them, and our often funny ideas about what we can and can’t control.
Julia is inspired equally by her modern urban surroundings and by research of traditional techniques, and she brings a goldsmith’s sensibility to every material that lands on her workbench, whether precious or not. She combines organic forms with an architectural approach using a wide range of materials, including gold, silver, enameled steel, wood, gemstones, and beads.
Julia studied metalsmithing at the University of Wisconsin and went on to receive her MFA from Miami University of Ohio. In the years since, she has enriched her practice with endless experimentation and by taking part in workshops and symposia across the US and internationally. All of Julia’s work is made by hand in her San Francisco studio.
Julia Turner’s work is driven by a continuous exploration of materials and techniques from diverse disciplines. Her studio tables are piled with small experiments in form and surface which she arranges and re-arranges, finding tensions, creating compositions, moving ideas forward, and developing the strongest impulses into finished work. She freely combines everything that interests her; mixing hot and cold connections, carving and fabricating, wood and gold, traditional enamel and industrial paint. Her work reflects a fascination with the boundary between the human-built and natural worlds, the beauty of accidental collaborations between them, and our often funny ideas about what we can and can’t control.
Julia is inspired equally by her modern urban surroundings and by research of traditional techniques, and she brings a goldsmith’s sensibility to every material that lands on her workbench, whether precious or not. She combines organic forms with an architectural approach using a wide range of materials, including gold, silver, enameled steel, wood, gemstones, and beads.
Julia studied metalsmithing at the University of Wisconsin and went on to receive her MFA from Miami University of Ohio. In the years since, she has enriched her practice with endless experimentation and by taking part in workshops and symposia across the US and internationally. All of Julia’s work is made by hand in her San Francisco studio.
