Julia Turner: TIMBER

Aside

March 9 – April 10, 2016
Artist’s Reception:  Friday, March 11, 6-8pm

 

Velvet da Vinci is proud to present Julia Turner: TIMBER, a solo exhibition of new jewelry in reclaimed wood by the San Francisco based artist.

Turner received her MFA from Miami University, Oxford, OH and her BFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, after studying at the Istituto Lorenzo de Medici, Florence, Italy. Her work has exhibited internationally and can be found in private collections world-wide.  Turner’s studio is part of the Heath Collective, located in a unique industrial space in San Francisco’s Mission District.  She has taught widely, most recently at California College of the Arts and the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts. On her current body of work, the artist states:

“TIMBER is about wood… and about falling, clearing, emptiness, and starting something new.

My studio is piled with wood. A lot of it I’ve gathered in grocery bags from the scrap bins of the furniture shops in my neighborhood, some I’ve pilfered from construction sites, and I often pick up pieces from the street. My favorite bits come from friends who know what I’m up to and save things for me, from precious places, attics, things being torn down, even an old ship. I love responding to the pieces as they come in, and the stories they come with, from the forest to me.

The most recent additions to the pile came from my own house- over the past year we’ve spent our weekends making space: pulling down ceilings, taking out beams, pulling out all kinds of mysteriously constructed shelves and fixtures, and piling it all up in the garage. For a long time I left it there, feeling like it was almost too much to respond to- and then one day I took a piece to the studio, put it on the band saw and started cutting it up. Right away I felt something resolving, some circle closing, and a huge sense of relief at the idea of my own experience, all the strain, work, worry (is it ok to pull out this nail? will the house fall down?) and so much history in that house before us, going through a band saw blade to become something totally fresh, different, and uncomplicated by the past.

TIMBER keeps going through my mind as I watch the wood transform, break, absorb color, smooth down or splinter off, showing its structure and its weak points. Everything changes, and everything that falls away makes room for something new.”

                      – Julia Turner, March 2016

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Julia Turner, Scape Necklace (Black/Brown), Walnut, stain, oxidized sterling silver, string, magnetic clasp. 21 x 7/8 x 7/8″

Julia Turner, Brooch, Wood, paint, steel.

Julia Turner, Timber Brooch #2 (Blue Peaks), Wood, stain, steel. 2 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 1/2″

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Julia Turner, Mill Brooch #5, Mixed wood, stain, sterling 18k gold, 2 1/2 x 2 /14 x 1/2″

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Julia Turner, Planes Necklace (Aqua/Red), Maple, stain, sterling silver, cord, magnetic clasp. 19 1/4 x 3/4 x 1/4″

Julia Turner, Brooch, Wood, paint, steel.

Julia Turner, Swipe Brooch, Wood, stain, steel. 1 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 1/2″

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Julia Turner, Mill Necklace #4, Walnut, paint, linen, oxidized silver. 6 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 1/4″

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Julia Turner, Timber Brooch #1, Walnut, stain, steel. 1 3/4 x 1 1/2 x 5/8″

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Julia Turner, Mill Necklace 3, Ebonized walnut, paint, linen, oxidized sterling silver clasp. 6 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 1/4″

Julia Turner, Scape Necklace (Yellow/Grey), Maple, stain, paint, cord, Japanese glass beads

Julia Turner, Scape Necklace (Yellow/Grey), Maple, stain, paint, cord, Japanese glass beads

Julia Turner, Brooch, Wood, paint, steel.

Julia Turner, Stack Brooch (Yellow), Maple, stain,paint, steel. 2 1/4 x 2 x 1/2″

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Julia Turner, White Wall Pendant, Walnut, gesso, linen, 18k gold. 2 1/2 x 2 x 1/2″

Julia Turner, Ballast Pendants (Yellow and Pink), Maple, cord, oxidized sterling silver, Japanese glass beads

Julia Turner, Ballast Pendants (Yellow and Pink), Maple, cord, oxidized sterling silver, Japanese glass beads

Julia Turner, Brooch, Wood, paint, steel.

Julia Turner, Mill Brooch #1 (Black), Wood, stain, steel. 2 x 2 3/4 x 1/2″

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Julia Turner, Carnival Necklace (Multicolor), Maple, linen, oxidized sterling silver magnetic clasp. 20 x 5/8 x 5/8″

Julia Turner, Mill Necklace #5 (Fluorescent Pink Thread), Walnut, cord

Julia Turner, Mill Necklace #5 (Fluorescent Pink Thread), Walnut, cord

Julia Turner, Bracelet, Wood, paint.

Julia Turner, Bracelet #1 (Black/White), Ebonized Walnut, enamel paint. 1 1/4 x 3/8″