JULIE GREEN
When visiting a museum, artist Julie Green looks for pentimento,
the process by which paint becomes transparent over time. Pentimento allows
the viewer to see the under-painting. This process of change and correction
can be seen in her paintings, revealing the drawings underneath. Personal
phenomenology and anxiety are the driving forces in Green’s work. Born
in Japan, she notes, "there is a word in the Japanese language, kehai,
which is the feeling that something has just happened or is about to occur.
I attempt to make a lasting image out of kehai—the fleeting moment."
Julie Green’s most recent work, The Last Supper, 2001, is a mineral (china)
painting installation of plates documenting the final meal selected by inmates
on death row in Texas. She was disturbed to find the final menus printed in
the morning paper at the time of each execution:
"He asked for a final meal of three fried chicken thighs, 10 or 15 shrimp,
tater tots with ketchup, two slices of pecan pie, strawberry ice cream, honey
and biscuits and a Coke."
Green comments, "I make art as a way of processing information. A human
execution, along with a printed menu and grisly details, makes me think how
off track our society at times strays." Julie Green received her MFA
from the University of Kansas. She has had numerous solo exhibitions and group
shows in the United States, UK, and Japan. She currently teaches at Oregon
State University.