Kindergarten

The Kindergarten series initially examined the darker aspects of the dynamic and interplay between couples testing each other’s boundaries. It didn’t take long before Julie Anne’s series began  to delve into the existential subject of consciousness, the final frontier of unknown knowledge in the human animal. Due to the transparency of the medium, the glass sculptures conceptionally lent themselves to begin a visual exploration of the unconscious mind in parallel to the exterior persona.

  • Artist’s secret thoughts

    This journey into the conscious and unconscious mind could be summed up as an exploration of the id, the ego and the superego. The id is a set of uncoordinated instinctual needs; the superego plays the moralizing role via internalized experiences; and the ego is the perceiving, logically organising agent that mediates between the id's instinctual desires, the demands of external reality and those of the critical superego.

I Miss You /.. / -- .. ... ... / -.-- --- ..-
Morse Brail

  • Artist’s secret thoughts

    Uses code to spell out the fact that I missed the lover I had split from – The morse-brail can either be seen as a special language between two people, or a code because one doesn’t want the other to know that they are affecting you.

    Using the stencil, something every child has owned – symbolically reminiscent of childish games – Akin to the use of Morse code.

    Mystery

    I miss you is on the other side, which means it reads backwards from the front – Once more a new level of difficulty to interpret the text – Interpret the human!

Playskool

The Heartless Barstard artworks take their inspiration from the ancient Moai figures which populate Chile’s Easter Island – A seminal head effigy or Everyman. Julie Anne Denton’s interest concerns the face we present to the public, the inner feelings we keep to ourselves and the uncontrolled reaction we have to certain emotive situations, which can be defined as noumena [the unseen] versus phenomena [the seen].

Red Mist

  • Artist’s secret thoughts

    The theme of these pieces are concerned with the primitive part of man’s nature, the violent side, the base component that does not want to show that 'he' is capable of 'feeling'. I visualise this idea using the fist motif emerging from the heart area. The heart within the body of the glass chest signifies that even with a hard exterior our ‘everyman’ has a softer gentler side albeit buried deep. In my effort to understand how my lovers mind worked, these works endeavour to visually represent the dualistic nature of violence.

    This cathartic workstream is powerful in theme, but they are not nihilistic. In terms of the reasoning behind the concept one can ask what occurs when subconscious thought becomes conscious action - what is produced? Reactions to situations based on impulse and ‘heat of the moment’ consequently bring forth raw emotion. If acted upon this can end in a lack or loss of control over oneself. 'He's got a lot of heart…’ concerns raw internal emotions suggesting an explosive end culminating in actual physical violence or at least consequences associated with control loss.

    My lover didn’t ever hurt me, he hurt others, and given more time he would have hurt me. The subject of temper and violence is important for me. My father used to hurt my mother when I was young, although his regret thereafter was palpable it was no excuse, and I wanted to explore these issues inside me in this artwork.

He’s Gotta Lotta Heart…
For a Heartless Barstard.

“The beauty of glass as
a material means I can create rather darkly themed work which enchants and lures people in, by its attractiveness”

Julie Anne Denton

Emotion - Cool Fury

Emotions - Cool Fury & Passive Aggression

Process - Artwork just out of the lehr after annealing

Anima Mundi – Kindergarten Series Fuse

Julie Anne creates a flameworked inclusion in the interior of the sculpture. The interior space acts as the arena concerned with hidden emotions and inner thought. The body of the sandcast has a relationship with the inclusion and acts as a point of reference. In this case Head symbolises the external factors which consistently weigh upon the individual such as the constraints of body, personal life, family etc…

Abstract Head with Block

Dimensions and technique

I Miss You

Highly polished sandcast glass

300 mm x 210 mm x 50 mm

Playskool

Highly polished sandcast glass with found object

300 mm x 400 mm x 600 mm

He’s Gotta Lotta Heart

Highly polished sandcast glass with flameworked inclusions

800 mm x 400 mm x 450 mm

Emotions - Cool Fury & Passive Aggression

Highly polished  sandcast glass with flameworked inclusions

250 mm x 500 mm x 100 mm

Abstract Head with Block

Anima Mundi / Kindergarten series fusion

Highly polished  sandcast glass with flameworked inclusions

400 mm x 100 mm x 150 mm