Andy Julo
Blue as deep sky Cyanotypes, both modern and vintage inspired.
From Andy Julo:
I make cyanotypes of discarded decorative elements. By re-imagining what is often used in performative gesture during life’s most evocative moments, my work is an investigation into the consumable materials associated with celebration, ritual, play, and commemoration. For me, embellishments are an ideal metaphor for the ebb and flow of life itself; visualizations of our ongoing process of being and becoming.
The refuse of the celebratory is often all that is left as tangible manifestations of what occurred. At the pivotal thresholds of our lives there are flowers and food, candles and cards. These are occasions where we demarcate our lives through embellishment. Art, as Ellen Dissanayake notes in her seminal text What is Art For?, is any time human beings ‘make special.’ To adorn the body, our dining tables, or homes…to sing, dance, or enact performance is to make life meaningful and memorable—an enterprise that is as ancient as it is varied.
Our capacity to dream ennobles our anticipation of what exists beyond the horizon. Tomorrow is not promised. We can, however, be sure that our lives are occasions for celebration.
Biography:
Andy Julo is a multimedia artist currently working in Tucson, Arizona. Interested in collapsing boundaries between the vernacular and formal historical realms, Andy uses the cyanotype process to record everyday items that weren't intended to last. In addition to alternative photography, he works in a variety of media including printmaking, installation, and collage.
Born in Kansas City, Andy received his MA in Studio Art from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2016. He was the founding director of the Verostko Center for the Arts on the campus of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. At present, Andy is pursuing a PhD in Art & Visual Culture Education at the University of Arizona.