Statement.  2019

As I force myself to focus fully on writing this ‘Statement. 2019’, I do anything but. I check my phone. I gaze at the mug in front of me, three-quarters full of cold tea. I think about drinking it. I listen to the clashing tick-tock..tick-tick..tock..tick-tock pounding out of the two clocks, staring at each other from opposing walls . I fight with my thoughts. “Who even reads this self-righteous crap anyways...?” I count the seconds in between each drip from the leaking tap. I try to decide which is more bearable, the clocks or the tap? All the objects and noises around me have now taken on a new role, they suddenly have a greater priority to this day. “They deserve more thought”, I think. Anything to avoid the task at hand. I check my phone one last time. I emerge and make a decision. This avoidance doesn’t have to be avoided. It’s inclusive. It is ‘Statement 2019’. I look again and realise the mug is actually one- third full of cold tea and I was never mathematically wired.


 Statement. 2019  (continued..)

 Julie Lovetts practice is cultivated through a self-conscious mix of her own social awkwardness and struggles she associates with identifying herself as a professional artist. Much of her influences derive from her rural upbringing, experiences and sense of place. These self -induced references also function as starting points for which often positions the practice within a frame of local language, expression and information, giving the work a specific landscape and context in which to realise itself.

 She uses film and painting as creative tools to respond to the world she perceives around her. Through the repetitive process of exploring and manipulating these creative mediums, the work physically and conceptually switches positions back and forth, consciously and unconsciously feeding and bouncing off their own actions and creations. This conflict or habitual action within the practice makes the activity of steering the practice itself the subject that is being explored.

 Her approach to art making functions on levels of carefully considered and logical planning combined with an awareness to the immediacy and changing nuances of her surrounding environments. The practice is also strongly steered by a constant negotiation of rejection and acceptance to the ever changing trends of these environments.  This approach heavily relies on a strong connection with attitude and ego, both subjects that constantly haunt and lurk around the practice.

The reoccurring relationships, patterns and themes that dominate the practice and continue to excite Julie Lovett as an artist are the functionality of objects and images in different spaces. How and where the work can function inside and outside of the studio space combined with the position of the individual as both a participant and a viewer all play an integral role in the formation and contribution of narrative to the work.

Narrative, the role of language and identity are currently primary subjects Julie Lovett is exploring through film. Working from the two different contexts of Belfast and Kerry, switching locations monthly, Julie has developed a double practice with the social, cultural and political actions from one space informing and influencing the artistic happenings and decisions of the other.