Julie Starks

Julie Starks creates artwork that reflects her fascination with ecosystems, sustainability and the fragile nature of this world. Much of her work is looking closely at the small worlds which surround us, sometimes to microscopic detail emphasising structure and detail in a beautiful way, her work shows texture and pattern and explores a reality of looking at things in a different way. Julie uses a variety of materials most of which are organic and natural, such as wood, metal, willow and others. She uses these materials to create sculptures and artworks. Her photography records the circle of life embarked upon by plant structures and surfaces, and is a constant inspiration for other artwork. Julie works for exhibitions, to private commission and deliver creative projects within community environments.
Julie has worked with a diverse range of client groups such as Greenpeace, the National Trust, Westonbirt Arboretum, Bath International Music Festival and Womad Festival as well as many other youth and community groups across the UK. One of the community projects Julie has done is called 'seeds'. It involved residency at the National Trust Gardens at Barrington Court, working with inner city schools from Bristol, to produce sculptures inspired by the gardens using seeds and clay. I liked the innovation of this project and the simplistic theme. I think the outcome was very organic and educational for the children.
Another community project was residency at the National Trust Gardens at Dyrham Park, Bath, this involved working with inner city schools from Bristol to produce sculptures inspired by the gardens using scrap materials.
My favourite project Julie did was the ‘Insectabike’ project for the recycled sculpture workshop at Bath children's festival, they used scrap materials to create a huge insect themed bike. This was similar to my project encouraging children to manipulate scrap. The outcome was very bright and colourful and had very interesting textures. The shape was very bold and eye-catching creating interesting shapes and ideas. I like how they used a variety of materials in an innovative way, I have used similar techniques to re-use materials.
Another project which involved the community was part of the London Road Carnival in Bath where she worked with Batheaston Primary school to produce costumes to lead the procession.