Although Julia Schuster’s chief medium is clay – she has recently been awarded the role of ‘Future Light in Ceramics Ambassador’ by an international panel of judges - she is equally at home using video, photography and the written word.
Julia Schuster’s opening exhibition as Artist-in-residence at Marlborough College shows examples of her work in each of these different media.
It is a show that is interested more in posing questions than providing answers. She doesn’t consider clay to be a superior medium to these others. She will use whatever best suits her particular purpose.
Julia Schuster was born in Vienna, gained her first degree in Italy and then graduated from the Royal College of Art in London in 2016. She has exhibited widely in both the United Kingdom and other European countries.
As the title ‘Kontakt suggests, a major preoccupation for Julia is the nature of touch, a connectedness with materials as well as with other makers and even the viewer of her work.
An engaging video-record of her time spent working with a potter and a wick-maker in Nepal is particularly beautiful in its exploration of the strength and poignancy of human touch.
The sculptor Henry Moore once said: “The hand is the cutting edge of the mind”. Julia exemplifies this view in her art-making.
She is a searcher, a questioner. There is a good deal for the visitor to ponder in this thoughtfully presented exhibition.
Go with a friend and see where your conversation leads …
Julia Schuster (Artist-in-residence): ‘KONTAKT’ :: until 12 November 2017 at the Mount House Gallery.
Opening times: Monday–Saturday 10am-6pm and Sundays 12noon–5pm.