Julia Forrest is a Brooklyn based artist. She works strictly in film and prints in a travel size darkroom that she builds on location. Her own art has always been her top priority in life and in this digital world, she will continue to work with old processing. Anything can simply be done in photoshop, she prefers to take the camera, a tool traditionally used for documenting, and experiment with what she can do in front of the lens.

     Julia uses mirrors, reflections, and forced perspective to create her illusionary work. She references the historical fine-art connection of the femme form with the natural landscape. The woman are seen as mythological spirits: building the landscape, destroying it, and transforming it with ease. Because the landscape is ever changing due to societies greed and global warming, Julia hopes to regain the connection to the environment that has been lost. Her work will never see completion because the landscape is in constant change. By relying on residencies to create new photographs, she is constantly seeing new environments to photograph within a creative community. She makes connections with local woman and the landscapes that are person to them.

     Julia is a grant recipient of NYFA, The Jerome Foundation, and The National Endowment of the Arts. Her grants allow her to travel and show throughout the United States. Internationally she has photographed Morocco, Taiwan, Spain, Norway, Cyprus, amongst others. She is currently working as a teaching artist at the Brooklyn Museum and Lehman College. As an instructor, she thinks it is important to understand that a person can constantly stretch and push the boundaries of their ideas with whatever medium of art they choose. Her goal is for her audience to not only enjoy learning about photography, but to see the world in an entirely new way and continue to develop a future interest in the arts. Her work encourages people to savor what is around them and become aware that nothing will remain untouched unless hard work is put into place to keep it.

email: JForrest@artspaces.net

phone: 631.902.8705

Education:
2005-2009      Hartford Art School, West Hartford, CT
                         Bachelor of Photography


Solo Exhibitions:

2022              Transcendence, The Newhouse Gallery, Snug Harbor, Staten Island, NY

2018              Illusion, PIER-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2016                 Unearth, The Earlville Opera House, Earlville, NY

2014                 Illusion: New Work, The String Room Gallery, Aurora, NY
                         Downstreet Art, Gallery 151, NorthAdams, MA
                         Reflective Surfaces, Catskill Art Society, Catskill, NY
2013
                         Modification, Chashama 461 Gallery, New York, NY
                         Artist in Residence, NewHouse Gallery - Snug Harbor, Staten Island, NY
                         Face it, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY
2012
                         Horizon, Art Attack!, Traveling art truck throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, NY
                         Horizon/Illusion, MIDOMA, New York, NY
                         Horizon, DEN l ART, Brooklyn, NY
2010
                         Siblings, Sparrowtree, Brooklyn, NY
                         Illusion, chashama gallery, New York, NY
                         llusion, Beehive Salon, Brooklyn, NY


Group Exhibitions:

2022 Break of Day, Edge of Night, The Painting Center, New York, NY . PENTA, CVA Gallery at Brookdale College, NJ. . Staff Exhibition, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY . New Beginning, Upstream Gallery, Hastings on Hudson, NY

2021 2021 National Juried Exhibition, First Street Gallery, New York, NY . She/Her Analogue, Blink Berlin, Berlin, Germany
                         All the Lights, Treat Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
                         Emergence, BAU Gallery, Beacon, NY
                         National Photography Competition, Fotofoto Gallery, Huntington, NY
                         Photowork 2021, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
                         Annual Small Works Show, Gallery 440, Brooklyn, NY

2020                What Is Your Reality in the Pandemic Era?, Stoodio One, Brooklyn, NY
                         Art as Self Reflection, JCAL’s Miller Gallery, Queens, NY

2019     Starry Night, Cathedral Arts, Jersey City, NJ

2016                 Accumulating Experience, Open Doors, Newark, NJ
                         Where is 11 O'clock?, Gallery Affero, Newark, NJ

2015                 Cartografia de la Creatividad, Museo De Arte De Sinaloa, Culiacan, Mexico
2014
                         Intimate Forest, Tabla Rasa Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013
                         Rebuild, Restore, Renew, Cathedral Arts, Jersey City, NJ
                         Access Art, Tabla Rasa Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
                         Dreams Before Sleeping, Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ
                         Roots: Drawing Connections through Community, Brooklyn Infusion Center, Brooklyn, NY
                         The Preview POD, Shops at 145 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY
2012
                         Girls, C.C.C.P. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
                         Art from the Boros, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY
                         GLAAD, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
                         RAWART, LittleField, Brooklyn, NY
                         The Evil Eye, Queens Art Center, Queens, NY
2011
                         The New World, Gallery Bar, New York, NY
                         Intersecting Identities, The Center, New York, NY


Artist Residencies:

My work largely depends on unique landscapes for me to create illusions in. Every photograph has a connection to the location, along with the personal connection to the woman I photograph at the center of it. Since 2013 I have done two to four residencies a year. Without these institution’s dedication and funding I would not be able to produce my work.

2023 New York Mills Cultural Center AIR, New York Mills, MN (April) . . Catwalk Art Institute, Catskill, NY (Feb) . Kimono Arts Center, Paphos, Cyprus (January) 2022 Soaring Gardens, Laceyville, PA (October) . Peter Bullough Foundation, Winchester, VA (August-September) Rucka AIR, Cesis, Latvia (May) . . Turkey Land Cove Foundation, Edgartown, Massachusetts (January) 2021 Hortus Gardens AIR, Stone Ridge, New York (October) . Faberlull Olot, Olot, Spain, (November) . Villa Barr Art Park AIR, Novi, Michigan (August-September) . Bethany Arts AIR, Ossining, NY (Jan-Feb) 2020 Bethany Arts AIR, Ossining, NY (October) . Residency Kinono, Tinos Island, Greece (January) 2019 Bethany Arts AIR, Ossining, NY (September-October) . Soaring Gardens AIR, Laceyville, Pennsylvania (August) . Dar Slimane, Marrakesh, Morocco (June) 2018 North Mountain Residency, Hedgesville, West Virginia (September-October) . Saltonstall Artist Residency, Ithaca, New York (May-June)
                         PIER-2 Artist in Residence, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Jan-Feb)
2017                 The Drake Art Center AIR, Kokkola, Finland (September)
                         Emerging Artist Program, Tofte Lake Center, Ely, MN (August)
                         Underground Paradise, Mexico City, Mexico (May-June)
2016                 Hurleyville Makers Lab AIR, Hurleyville, NY (September-October)
                         Bait Al Zubair International Artist Residency, Muscat, Oman (January-Feburary)
2015                 Drop, Forge, & Tool, Hudson, NY (October-December)
                         Catwalk Art Institute, Catskill, NY (September)
                         Agder Kunstsenter AIR, Kristiansand, Norway (February-March)
2014                 Salem Art Works Fellowship, Salem, NY (September-October)
                         ARNA Bird Lab AIR, Harlosa, Sweden, (May)
2013                 Snug Harbor Fellowship, Staten Island, NY (April-May)
                         Soaring Gardens AIR, Lacyville, PA (June)
                         Urban Glass Project AIR, Brooklyn, NY (October-December)


Grants:

2022              The Newhouse Gallery Exhibition Grant, Staten Island, NY 2020 Café Royal Cultural Foundation Grantee, New York, NY                   NYFA Tri-State Relief Fund for Workers in the Visual Arts, New York, NY
                         NYC AiE Arts Educator Relief Fund, New York, NY
2017                  Educators Grant, The Nordic Art School, Kokkola, Finland
                         Emerging Art Grant, funded by the Jerome Foundation, New York, NY
2015                 Cultural Rucksack Project Funds, funded by Agder Kunstsenter, Kristiansand, Norway
2014                 Corning Glass Summer Workshop Scholarship, funded by Urban Glass AIR (Brooklyn), Corning, NY
2013                 Edward and Sally Van Lier Fellowship, funded by New York Community Trust, NY

In the Collection of:

2021 Villa Bar Art Park, Novi, Michigan 2016                 The Zubair Family, Muscat Oman
2015                 Museo De Arte De Sinaloa, Culiacan, Mexico
                         Agder Kunstsenter, Kristiansand, Norway
2014                 David McKee, McKee Gallery, New York, NY
2011                  Hotel 718, Brooklyn, NY

Articles:

2017                 Osterbottens Tidning, Creating Illusions in Photography, printed newspaper: pages 16 to 17
2016                 Oman Observer: Weekender, Distant Reality in the Darkroom, pages 18-23
                         (http://omanobserver.om/weekendmagazines/?pn=Weekend_21-01-16.pdf)
2013                 Musée Magazine, (https://drive.google.com/a/artspaces.net/file/d/0B4mpKHtXIhZ8UE9CSEtoSWRGODg/view)
                        Staten Island Advance, (https://drive.google.com/a/artspaces.net/file/d/0B4mpKHtXIhZ8Z0I0cDdEcVZXRDA/view)
2012                 Daylight Curfew, (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4mpKHtXIhZ8U2tKWU4zZldVT00/view?usp=sharing)

Video Documentation:

2021               Villa Barr Artist in Residence Interview, Novi, Michigan . (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rqMbI3oiCkuQ06rBn4J0fiNtcR-1RXHC/view) 2016                Her Darkroom: Documentary on artistic Process, Muscat, Oman (https://vimeo.com/156568933)
                         Toured the following film festivals:
                                     - Official Selection at the Sydney World Film Festival, Sydney, Australia (2016)
                                     - Reality Check: A Selection of Short Documentaries, London, England (2016)
                                     - Los Angeles CineFest, Los Angeles, California (2016)
2014                 Minute Moment with Julia Forrest: Interview by Salem Art Works, Salem,
                        (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMBhG-bpHfs)

Currently Working:
2010-present    BROOKLYN MUSEUM, Brooklyn NY
                         Teaching Artist (Noe Gaytan/Education Director)
2014-present    USDAN FOR THE CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS, Wheatly Heights, NY
                         Photography Instructor (Lauren Schloss/Director) 2022-present  LEHMAN COLLEGE ART GALLERY, The Bronx, NY . Teaching Artist (Deborah Yasinsky, Education Director)