JULIE BENZ is an artist/painter based in Berlin, Germany.
HOW DOES THE CITY IN WHICH YOU LIVE INSPIRE YOU?
Berlin is what you want from it. This city can be your cozy home, or a loud, hectic and crazy place to be. Everything is possible and it’s hard not to rush around. The city teaches you to say no and that there will be no end to the possibilities or things you can see or experience. Berlin is the place where my friends and many other artist come together, building a community and talking about our work, exchanging experience, doing art together, or just to drink and party. The city gives you a feeling of freedom, of being able to do what you want without getting judged, and that is something very important for my work on the canvas.
Berlin is what you want from it. This city can be your cozy home, or a loud, hectic and crazy place to be. Everything is possible and it’s hard not to rush around. The city teaches you to say no and that there will be no end to the possibilities or things you can see or experience. Berlin is the place where my friends and many other artist come together, building a community and talking about our work, exchanging experience, doing art together, or just to drink and party. The city gives you a feeling of freedom, of being able to do what you want without getting judged, and that is something very important for my work on the canvas.
DESCRIBE A REAL LIFE MUNDANE SITUATION THAT INSPIRES YOU!
I feel inspired by watching people while they’re not feeling watched. When they’re not interacting with others, waiting for the bus or walking trough the streets. I think people are very real in those moments.
WHAT THEMES DO YOU PURSUE IN YOUR WORK?
Passion, emotion and creating. Intensional and planned. Colors are emotions and I like to create a chaos and clean up. The idea of Nature is a theme which goes though nearly all my paintings. An abstraction of water with the tiny lines and patterns, inspired by impressionism and expressionism. I like to paint the idea of things, situations, surroundings, not to serve every information on a plate to the viewer. When I paint people, I like to show them with their back to the viewer, it is more about their body language, which tells often much more than the mask we are wearing in our every day life. When I paint, I always start with an abstract painting and add something more and more figurative to it.
Passion, emotion and creating. Intensional and planned. Colors are emotions and I like to create a chaos and clean up. The idea of Nature is a theme which goes though nearly all my paintings. An abstraction of water with the tiny lines and patterns, inspired by impressionism and expressionism. I like to paint the idea of things, situations, surroundings, not to serve every information on a plate to the viewer. When I paint people, I like to show them with their back to the viewer, it is more about their body language, which tells often much more than the mask we are wearing in our every day life. When I paint, I always start with an abstract painting and add something more and more figurative to it.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
The area of Uferhallen in Wedding/Berlin is full of artists studios and it feels like you can find everything there. Its a huge space in an area of Berlin, which is not very popular for many people. Its a part of west Berlin where many foreign people live and the streets are filled with turkish food shops and good smelling places all over the streets. Its a rough area, where many different cultures come together, I really like that.
Where They’ is a visual documentation of the creative environments of artist & people, that meet during my travels, of homes and studios.
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