Julie Leach British, b. 1958

Overview

Julie Leach (b. 1958) is an artist printmaker who works with the elements, primarily the wind, to document the invisible forces of nature. Her interests lie in exploring phenomena of transience, ephemerality and intangibility. By facilitating “nature as artist” she creates drawings, screen prints and etchings that express extraordinary lightness, energy and movement.

 

Greatly influenced by the eastern philosophy of wabi sabi which embraces impermanence and fragility as central tenets, Julie aspires to express these qualities in both the concept and the aesthetic of her work. She has long been interested in visual expressions of the elusive and the immaterial with existing bodies of work exploring memory, loss, altered identities and the edges of existence. Her current work focusses on enabling the invisibility of elemental energy to become visible, offering an impactful connection with the natural world and beyond.

 

Drawing is the starting point of all Julie’s work. She facilitates nature as the artist to create the drawings through direct engagement with the processes of the natural world. Sometimes she works with pleasant summer breezes, at other times with wild storms in wind speeds of over 50 mph. The drawings are made through a collaboration between the energy of the wind and the plant that the wind is blowing through. The marks thus made are a direct expression of the wind, not that of the human conscious mind or hand. 

 

The physical connection of working outside in often challenging conditions is part of the adventure of the process for Julie. The sense of freedom, risk and the wildness of nature provides a sensory experience at odds with the domestic, the comfortable or the virtual. Relinquishing control and responsibility to the forces of nature offers a sense of personal perspective, a balance to the egocentric, pressurised momentum of contemporary society.

 

As an ex-dancer Julie’s passion for energy and movement has transferred to her visual art. Her drawings and prints now explore these same forces beyond her own body. She recognises nature as the primary artist in the work and herself as facilitator and curator. This lack of personal ego is noticeable in the hard to find artist signature and the way she credits the collaboration in the titles of the works.

Works
Biography

Education & Awards

RBSA Print Exhibition Prize, GMC whole submission award - Royal Birmingham Society of Artists

MA Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking (Distinction) – University of the West of England 

Foundation in Art and Design (Distinction) - Hereford College of Arts

B.Ed. Hons (2.1), Education/Art – Warwick University

 

Exhibitions

2020

December Exhibition – Gallery at Home, LLancayo Court, Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK

RWA 168th Annual Open Exhibition - Royal Academy of the West of England, Bristol, UK

Winter Exhibition – Brownsword Hepworth Gallery, 15-17 Walton St, Chelsea, London, UK

Crux - Little Buckland Gallery, Broadway, Worcestershire, UK

Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair - Woolwich Arsenal, Woolwich, London, UK

Essence - Little Buckland Gallery, Broadway, Worcestershire, UK

New Wave - Viner Gallery, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK

Elements: air water - Gallery 57, Arundel, West Sussex, UK

A Place to Breathe - Irving Contemporary, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK

March Show - Bevere Gallery, Worcester, Worcestershire, UK

Affordable Art Fair Battersea - The Drugstore Gallery, Battersea Park, London, UK

 

2019

Inaugural Exhibition - Irving Gallery, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK

Ethos - Little Buckland Gallery, Broadway, Worcestershire, UK

Manchester Art Fair - The Drugstore Gallery, Manchester Central, Manchester, UK

RWA 167th Annual Open Exhibition - Royal Academy of the West of England, Bristol, UK

Worcestershire Open Studios - Bevere Gallery, Worcester, Worcestershire, UK

Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair - Woolwich Arsenal, Woolwich, London, UK

Flow - Gallery 57, Arundel, West Sussex, UK

GPC Summer Print Show – Gloucestershire Print Collective, Museum in the Park, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK

In The Moment - Bower Fine Art, 54 The Gallery, Mayfair, London, UK

Affordable Art Fair Hampstead - The Drugstore Gallery, Hampstead, London, UK

Affordable Art Fair Battersea - The Drugstore Gallery, Battersea Park, London, UK

March Show - Bevere Gallery, Worcester, Worcestershire, UK

 

2018

RWA 166th Annual Open Exhibition - Royal Academy of the West of England, Bristol, UK

National Original Print Exhibition - Bankside Gallery, London, UK

Interruptions - Felios Foundation, Athens, Greece

RBSA Print Prize Exhibition - Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK

Stroud Summer Exhibition - Stroud Valleys Artspace (SVA), Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK

32nd Annual MA Multi-Disciplinary Mini Print Exhibition - Burton Art Gallery, Bideford, Devon, UK

MA Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking Degree Show - University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

Affordable Art Fair Hampstead - The Drugstore Gallery, Hampstead, London, UK

The Broadway Open Art Exhibition - Little Buckland Gallery, Broadway, Worcestershire, UK

 

2017

32nd Annual MA Multi-Disciplinary Mini Print Exhibition, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

Proof - The Christmas Steps Gallery, Bristol, UK

Bristol Artists’ Books Event (BABE) - Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

 

Articles, Talks and Other Events

2020

Live Outdoor Projection: New Wave Art – WV1 Studio, Cleveland Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK

Live Outdoor Projection: New Wave Art – White Ladies Priory, Shackerley Lane, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK

Article: Tim Sayer MBE Discusses – New Wave Art ‘3 From 3’ online: www.newwaveart.org

 

2019


Article: Artist Profile - Ox In A Box, Irving Gallery In-House Exhibition

Talk: Drawing the Unconceived - Little Buckland Gallery, Broadway, Worcestershire, UK

Demonstration: Botanical - Bevere Gallery Open Studios, Worcester, Worcestershire, UK

 

2018

Article: Jackson's Art, Mychael Barratt Interview - The National Original Print Exhibition 2018

Talk: Drawing the Unconceived - Select Connects, Stroud International Textiles, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK

Article: Artist Profile – Manor Magazine, Issue 25, Late Spring 2018, p.75

 

2017

Talk: Working with the Elemental Energies of Nature - University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

 

Exhibitions