21 WADE AVE #2 | TORONTO

Julie Moon | Flourish | 14 Sept - 12 Oct 2024

Julie Moon’s world of ceramics have the ability to float. Bulbous and round, or levitating on a wall, it’s as if they defy gravity’s pull and would rather be airborne. Or perhaps they hover slightly above this world entirely. 

The ceramic pieces in Flourish represent a world similar to ours but slightly off-kilter. The objects are too perfect: symmetrical and round, colourful and flat. In other ways, the work errs towards the grotesque: oozing and defying laws of physics. Moon uses paper-cutting techniques as drafts for her sculptures and paintings on tiles, creating distinct positive and negative spaces and unnatural symmetrical compositions. This process introduces a level of chance or spontaneity into her art, as does the firing and glazing process. 

The process of creating the mystical and pigmented pieces takes place between the act of planning and the act of waiting. The planning phase is methodological and involved, with test glazes and sketches scattered throughout Moon’s studio. The waiting stage is much more mercurial—Moon has to wait to see how a piece turns out after firing it in the kiln. This hot-and-cold relationship creates a certain frisson, a magic, in the pieces, which are replicated in the content. If the kiln is a placeholder for the womb, Moon is a surgeon, reaching in and pulling out the pieces after firing, heralding them into the world. 

Moon’s decorative vocabulary seduces the viewer. There are equal citations of the Memphis Group, Mattise, Bauhaus, and Art Deco, as well as ancient civilizations. An art historical journey takes place, but rather than the oft-cited elements of art history—mainly, the compositions—Moon focuses on the details of these periods. The borders, floral patterns, and colours. Moon collects the fragments of art history, delegated to the definition of “decorative” or “ornamental,” and makes it the focus. In doing so, Moon re-frames the eye and prioritizes the overlooked, the feminine and the non-Western art canon. 

This is the first time Moon is exhibiting two-dimensional works, painting directly onto hand-crafted tiles. Even these works have a gravitational pull to the sky. Moon depicts vases holding flowers, and also creates vases that hold flowers. The shift from two-dimensional to three bends the mind a little bit. The work is anthropomorphic, like household objects from a popular children’s series that might leap alive at any moment. In other words, the work vibrates as if it was alive. The jester on the wall juggles shapes that just might float away. 

– Tatum Dooley 

Julie Moon (she/her) is a Toronto-based ceramic artist, holding a BFA from OCAD University (2005) and an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (2010). Prior to ceramics, Julie spent over a decade in the garment industry while studying fashion technology; today, Julie continues to be inspired by the language of ornament, pattern, tactile media, and the human figure. Her practice is deeply connected to the intuitive process of making, allowing subconscious thoughts and geometries to manifest. The resulting works range from imaginative and intricate sculptures that are botanical, figurative, or abstract.

Julie has exhibited internationally in galleries across Canada and the US, notably the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, ART Toronto, the Philadelphia Art Fair, MASS Gallery in Austin, TX, Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, PA, and the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN. Julie has worked extensively as an artist-in-residence, including at The Ceramic Art Center in Berlin, Anderson Ranch Art Center in Aspen, CO, The Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MO, and a four-year residency at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA.

Tatum Dooley is a writer and founder of Art Forecast.  Her writing has appeared in Artforum, Architectural Digest, Border Crossings, Canadian Art, Garage Magazine, the Globe & Mail, The Walrus, Lapham’s Quarterly, and Vogue. She has written exhibition texts for artists worldwide. Dooley has a BA in Arts & Contemporary Studies and an MA in Literature of Modernity from Toronto Metropolitan University. She currently sits on the Curatorial Committee of SNAP, a photography auction supporting the AIDS Committee of Toronto. Previously, she was Co-Chair of Salon 44, Gallery 44’s annual fundraiser.