Artist Spotlight: Giulia
Giulia is one of Artbox’s most longstanding artists who has never failed on her commitment to her practice over the span of many years. Her presence brings a constant buzz to the studio and the energy she brings is the source of encouragement and support for many of the other artists in the studio. Giulia’s artwork is always recognisable in its unique style and scope of subject matter and mediums used. She ranges from creating designs in simple yet bold black and white lines to inspiring and colourful patterns. Whether more figurative or abstract, the thoughtfulness and dedication to her practice never fail to shine through. In the studio sessions, Giulia always comes up with new and exciting ideas for her work and inspires those around her to try new things. She works hard to come up with endless pages of ideas for future projects and enjoys sketching designs in pencil before solidifying them in pens. She is not afraid to step out of her comfort zone and isn’t confined to one type of subject matter. Most recently, Giulia has been experimenting with the idea of creating wallpaper patterns, looking to magazines and books as sources of inspiration.
Knot wrap from Lush, featuring Giulia’s crab design
The notion of the repeated printed design stemmed from her hugely successful collaboration with Lush, for which Giulia produced a crab design that was printed on bright pink and red headscarves. Giulia feels an immense sense of pride in her work and says she feels happy and respected when she sees others enjoying it. This is key to Giulia’s practice - the joy of others enjoying her pieces are at the centre of her practice. The build-up to exhibitions provides a continuum of motivation and buzz to her designs and takes delight in knowing where her artwork’s forever home will be.
Giulia’s pieces range from big, bold and full of vibrant colour to black and white, detailed compositions. Her well-known works ‘Bird’ and ‘Elephant’ are fine examples of this style: simple and delicate yet effective and eye-catching. Animals are a subject re-visited many times by Giulia, and her passion for them is always apparent to the observer. Her recent piece of a vibrant tiger has been thoughtfully executed in coloured pen and pencil, with the background strokes of neon green pen contrasting perfectly with the softer shades of pencil that form the tiger’s stripes. This tiger is unique in its colours and distinct black lines that emphasise all the right places.
Tiger, Giulia
This Valentine's Day, we are celebrating Giulia’s piece ‘Summer Loving’, appropriately titled for the holiday. The work shows a couple standing together, each with one arm over the other in a caring embrace. Giulia has chosen to keep the composition simplistic in black and white, using a black marker over a pencilled sketch. Although much simpler in its style compared to other works and choosing to not utilise colour, Giulia’s devotion and joy for her art makes this piece eye-catching and puts a smile on all our faces. Behind this piece is a message of love, companionship and the importance of support for one another – crucial to all of us during this time after the lockdowns and distancing from those we hold dearest over the past two years. Giulia’s ‘Summer Loving’ acts as a reminder for all of us to share some love this Valentine's Day.
Giulia and other artists in the Artbox studio have also created a limited edition range of riso-printed greetings cards, which are perfect for spreading love and joy to friends and family: