Julia Walter

RED

2014
pendant in galalith and cotton string
5 1/8 x 5 1/8 x 1/32

A stylized red teardrop shape cut from Galalith, a synthetic plastic popular in the early 20th century because it could mimic costly materials like gemstones and ivory, is intersected by an upside-down T incised into the surface. This pendant, part of a series called ‘Keeping the balance’, is an abstract composition; it is also a nose. Artist Julia Walter often plays games with pareidolia, the human tendency to see faces in objects, and her work is filled with evocative symbols that can’t quite be pinned down. She writes, “My work starts with drawing and collages on paper. I pick up forms and signs that surround me and transform them into the shape of a piece of jewellery, a pendant, a talisman, a friendly companion.” Following her studies in applied arts at Ar.Co in Lisbon, Portugal, Walter graduated from the University of Applied Arts in Pforzheim, Germany, in 2007. Her graduation work was honored by the Marzee Graduation Prize 2007, which eventually led to her becoming an artist in residence in 2009 in Amsterdam, where she now lives.