New Material Perspectives

Focusing particularly on lines and thresholds, Juliette’s work is sculptural and often comprises groups of objects. Base metals and precious metals are used to explore how we experience our emotional and physical place in the world. Her work starts as flat sheets of metal and is fabricated by hand in her workshop in Walthamstow using various traditional and contemporary metalsmithing techniques. Seams – the thresholds that lie within a form – are an integral part of Juliette’s work. The matt finishes she uses prioritise the form over the surface of the piece. The matt finishes she uses prioritise the form over the surface of the piece and the use of various heat and chemical patination techniques colours her work.

‘My practice is centred on ‘making’ as the method through which I undertake these explorations. The act of making – which encompasses both modelling and constructing finished pieces in different materials – is an action-led dialogue between idea and material that bridges the divide between our internal and external worlds. I typically make hollow forms, in varying scales that mirror the body by either physically or metaphorically containing, to create one-off sculptures and installations of objects. I often work with groups of objects that can be arranged and rearranged and that communicate both through the forms themselves and through the spaces in between them. I work in a range of metals including copper, gilding metal, various brasses, nickel silver, mild steel, pewter and sterling silver. Choosing the material for each piece is an essential part of my process as each metal has a different character that affects both the fabrication of the piece and the way in which the piece communicates.’

Juliette trained at The Cass School of Art gaining BA (First Class) and a research MA (Distinction). She has exhibited nationally and internationally including Design Miami, ArtGeneve, Tresor Contemporary Craft and Collect, where she won the prize for Collect Open in 2018. She was selected by the Design Council as one of their Ones to Watch, for potential to contribute to the future of Britain as a design nation and has been featured in, amongst others, CRAFTS Magazine, Craft and Design Magazine, the Evening Standard and the FT’s How to Spend It. She has work in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Irish State collection, has received funding from the Arts Council England Grants for the Arts Programme. Juliette is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Juliette produced her first publication, Material Perspectives, in 2018 that offers an insight into her making process. Copies are available to purchase here.