Artist's Statement

In Julia Lockie's paintings, one becomes immediately attracted by the highly textured and intricate surfaces. In the most recent paintings, the boards and canvases are built up with found objects, retrieved garbage and bits of recognizable junk. Richly coloured and beautiful to look at, the surfaces are somewhat disquieting; these are not carefree paintings. The paintings have multiple layers, both physically and metaphorically. Although visually compelling, there is much more than immediately meets the eye. It can take some time with the paintings to discover all that's happening. The use of space is often ambiguous; we're not quite sure where we are or what it is we're looking at. The state of the natural world and the effects of human activities on it are the artist's prime motivators in these recent works. All of Julia Lockie's work is deeply informed and influenced by her health sciences background and her current career as a Biology teacher.