Scotland-based, Costa Rica-born artist, Juli Bolaños-Durman, presents her latest collaboration with independent Edinburgh-based fragrance brand, Jorum Studio. The project will debut at the exhibition ‘Re.Use, Re.Think, Re.Imagine’ at Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset, which opens on 18 October, 2019.
Earlier this year, Juli was invited to respond to Jorum Studio’s latest collection, ‘Progressive Botany Vol. 1’. Prompted by rich olfactory studies, a vivid layering of the textures and the artist’s Latin American heritage, the exploration was dynamic and involved all of the five senses.
Photography: Shannon Tofts
Photography: Shannon Tofts
The resulting 21 sculptures embody the rich, raw and bountiful nature of wild flowers and our natural environment. They are brought to life by deconstructing discarded glass, reconfiguring the elements through play and embellishing them with decadent layers of hand-cut details.
Bolaños-Durman is known for revitalising waste material by applying various heritage cold-working processes. Her practice is driven by a genuine concern for the amount of rubbish we produce as consumers. As a maker working with a material that can be repaired, this project represents an opportunity to demonstrate both the traditional skills and artistic vision required to breathe new life into these discarded objects. In the end, these objets d’art personify a story of potential.
These objects honour the instinctual need to create something with our hands, and how this act of making connects us to our humanity, our forefathers/foremothers and the future.
Photography: Shannon Tofts
Juli’s unique perspective can be easily linked to the core of her artistic statement: “I want to create raw pieces that are put together intuitively through the joyfulness of play, by exploring different materials and ideas to challenge the boundaries of art and its meaning. Through my work I want to invite the audience to delve into a magical world of second chances, where waste material is the starting point. I’m interested in how this visceral bond between the maker and the material permeates the creative process, guiding it to become something new”.
Photography: Shannon Tofts
Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset is a destination for contemporary making and the crafted object, showcasing work from the best emerging and established makers both nationally and internationally. Make opened in September 2018 and occupies two rooms of a Georgian townhouse at 13 High Street, Bruton with Jacqueline Moore, formerly of the Moore Gallery, at the helm.
The exhibition presents the work of seven UK-based experimental makers, whose work explores new responses to materials and process, producing unique and inventive objects, textiles and furniture. Whether repurposing, recycling or innovating, all are considering the resources around us to challenge conceptions of making. Together they are pushing boundaries and represent a current movement in craft to explore the material landscape in a new way.
Re.Use, Re.Think, Re.Imagine | Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset
Opening 18 October – 1 January 2020
Opening Hours:
10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 4pm
from Wednesday to Saturday.
13 High St,
Bruton
BA10 0AB
