Julienne Lewis — Fallout Series II - 043, 2025

The Fallout Series from Julienne Lewis explores vessels that are a potent symbol of culture, reflecting a society's values and ethics.  Julienne reinterprets this fundamental artifact to reflect the current climate, aiming to elicit an emotional response from the viewer. The hand-built sculptural vessels she creates are surprisingly light, embodying both fragility and strength. Through layered slips and multiple firings, she explores sustainability, form and texture, producing a range of vessels to illuminate our moment in time.

Created from the desire to seek beauty as a form of protest against injustice much is hidden in these pieces and only revealed with time and attention. The fossil-like quality connects with the past and the gaps in the forms remind us of our own impermanence. We are bonded by this reality of impending decay; we live in the ‘fallout’.

‘In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.’ Phil Ochs

—

Julienne Lewis’s ceramics reflect a lifelong pursuit of beauty as a counterbalance to life's injustices. Crafted from the earth, her pieces are intended to evoke a sense of the organic, referencing the human form, culture and emotions. Their timeless, fossil-like quality gives the pieces the  impression of having been ‘unearthed’ rather than created.

The study of anthropology provided an opportunity for Julienne to hone her appreciation of the link between culture and landscape, deeply influencing her approach to colour, form and texture. Refining her artistic expression through garden design and jewellery making, eventually lead to the discovery of life-changing ceramics training at the School of Clay and Art.