An Interview with Juliana Rempel, Canadian ceramic artist
Let's get to know Canadian potter, Juliana Rempel, a little better. We sent her some questions and these are her responses.At what age did you know you wanted to be an artist?
I think I always knew I loved being creative, being a maker and an explorer but it wasn’t until my 2nd year of college that I decided to dive into it and apply to art school.
Where or how do you look for inspiration?
I grew up in the prairies and now live in the forest. Both the vast straight lines with big blue skies as well as the rich greens of the forest floor, inspire me and my work.
Take us through the part of your artistic process that you love the most.
Oh I love making objects that people use. Everything in our life should celebrate a moment, big or small. I can contribute to this through the objects that I make and it warms my soul, that’s the best part.
Why is it important for you to paint/build/create?
Making time for my practice gives me balance. I need this time to express my thoughts and my ideas, to explore and to play. It challenges me, it pushes me and it feeds me.
What genre, band, artist, or podcast do you like to listen to when you work?
I listen to so many podcasts and audiobooks while I am in my studio. I can listen well when my hands are busy. It’s one of the things that I look forward to the most! I tend to pick ones that teach me something, ones that contemplate the world around us. Always non fiction.
What other jobs do you do (outside of your art) and what do you love about it?
I have been a sessional faculty at AUarts for 12 years. It’s my excuse to never leave art school.
What do people find the most appealing about your work?
My work is always changing and evolving, one object inspires the next.
Take us through the part of your artistic process that you love the most.
Oh I love making objects that people use. Everything in our life should celebrate a moment, big or small. I can contribute to this through the objects that I make and it warms my soul, that’s the best part.
Tell us about one of your pieces available at h squared gallery, your inspiration behind it or a story about its creation.
There is a large pot with sculpted and painted winged armatures. That is the largest I have made of its kind and I found it so satisfying to build and exciting to see as a finished piece. There is a connection to the body when scale is increased, both in the way it is made as well as how we experience it as n object in our lives. The painted flowers are more expressive then in my smaller pieces and the surface is sprayed with a shino glaze that in the reduction firing blushed orange where it is applied thin and an almost metallic surface where it is thick.
