Julie Graves

Julie Graves lives and works in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK. She relocated from London 2010. She received a 6 months studio award at Art Space Portsmouth where she now has a permanent studio.

Julie Graves works with a range of materials and experimental techniques to produce drawings, paintings and textiles. One of the prominent themes in her work is her interest in how things are made and constructed, alongside who or what made them, by what means, what tools, whether hand or machine made from the domestic to the industrial.

She am fascinated by the skills involved in ‘making’ and with the loss of skills that manifests as objects, products, demand and techniques become obsolete or superseded by the advancement of technology, engineering and society.

These lost techniques become histories in their own right; the tools of manufacture are of particular interest to her alongside the human stories of the craftsmen, makers and producers of objects. Julie Graves has recently focused on hand tools whether professional ‘tools of the trade’ or tools used in domestic situations; all of which come under close observation and scrutiny.