Artist Profile: Julia Schilling
Julia Schilling
Birth date: 17 January
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Website: julia-schilling.com and WhatIfTheySwamHere
For inspiration, I usually: read about natural history, voyages or the work/lifestyle of passionate scientists
My biggest influence: language, landscape, ecosystems, translations and mistranslations
Day job: Telephone captioner for the hard of hearing
Favorite animal: how could I choose?
Favorite artist: Maya Lin or Roni Horn; they are both so poetic
Hidden talent: I am a harmonica master
Secret confession: I can barely play row your boat on the harmonica and not very well. And that was a couple years ago.
Three things that always put me in a good mood: Picking vegetables from my garden, building or fixing a useful object, making pun themed valentines
My biggest pet peeve: Designated tupperware areas of any household. No matter how hard one tries to be organized about it, the right lid for the already full container hides elsewhere. It’s universal.
My greatest achievement: FINALLY finished Crime and Punishment after many false starts over a couple of years. It was a surprisingly humorous romp.
Tell us a story:
European settlers brought the dandelion with them to the Americas as a versatile food crop. Wind, as well as a fast growing popularity among many native tribes, caused the dandelion to spread quickly. When explorers Lewis and Clark set out to discover the new frontier of the western coast, they were looking upon a landscape already altered by the hand of Europe.
The dandelion had beaten them there.
Currently shown:
“Directions for Dinner” – Wall installation at the White Whale Gallery (Milwaukee, WI)
“Crater Lake Cow” – Blue dye on aluminum (Milwaukee, WI)
“What a Tale” – Ink on paper (Milwaukee, WI)
Click to enlarge
