Julie Brook studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford from 1980-83. From 1989 she has spent long periods living and working on the remote islands off the Scottish coast. the longest stretches of time were spent living in a cliff arch on the west coast of Jura from 1990-94. She is an artist whose process relies on solitude as a starting point. Julie lives in the landscape which she wishes to respond to and then, as she begins to create, listens to the environment and responds to the environment “dictating terms”. (From her artist’s statement).
Julie's "Home" on Jura
Julie Brook makes drawings and large pieces outside using differing materials. Photography and film also form part of her working process. In The White Review No. 4, Robert Assage, writer and critic, wrote about her working method that “[she] draws the landscape, with the landscape, in the landscape”.
Her drawings utilize pigments and the action of weathering to reflect processes in the surrounding landscape. Her drawings are abstract but very organic and reflect the connection with her environment. They show the effect the elements have had on the landscape.
The sculptural works that are slightly more permanent also reflect a deep feeling of empathy for the landscape. This is Land Art in the tradition of Robert Long and Andy Galsworthy. Her works tread very lightly. She would not dream, in this environment, of using large, mechanical earth moving equipment like Robert Smithson making his Spiral Jetty in 1970. On Skye from 2007-2011, she made a commissioned series exploring the void as a sculptural form: how it sits in the landscape; how it responds to sunlight; and, at night, fires are lit within it.Through these works, Julie Brook is exploring the effect of a straight line in a natural wild landscape. By creating a purely human concept within this environment she is asking all sorts of questions about human impact, and its transient effect. She is also playing with forms and light: merging her experience and ideas with the physical reality of the landscape.
In her Firestacks on Jura 1992-94, Julie Brook created tidal fire pillars: stone chimneys which she filled with tarred rope and wood. Then, as the sea starts encroaching she continued to row out topping up the fire: reflecting a need to do battle with the waves. She would then rebuild the stack as the water receded in a continual ritual that “connected me to the wind and tide, a rhythm that felt very ancient”.
It was because of it's transient nature that she began using film and photography as an integral part of the work The gallery video installations show these acts of building, tending, and engulfment during both day and night, which emphasizes the elemental aspect of Firestacks.
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