JULIANA CHILD ART
Works on paper
Charting my way
As a youngster I loved both Biology and Fine Arts. I took the Fine Arts path, specialising in Sculpture.
The next two decades were given to the Visual Arts Education of others. As time passed an appetite for the Natural Sciences resurfaced in an applied way. Later in life I retrained in Organic Horticulture and then taught an industry qualification in that.
So, several disciplines inform the art I now produce. These works on paper cross borders rather inconveniently. Many rely on the aesthetics of the scientific diagram and chart. Others study the culture of science.
More still touch on our specie’s effect on Earth’s biosphere. I’m interested in how scientists communicate about and depict cycles, patterns and hierarchies, and how these develop and change over time.
In May 2022 we moved from a coastal environment to a sub-alpine one. We’re now purely studio based, here in New Zealand in the foothills of the Southern Alps, on a terrace above the braided Rakaia River protected by Mt Hutt. I’m settling into The Rakaia by studying, mapping and painting it.
I find where I fit, where we fit, how parts connect through the analog visualisation of data. I wonder about our place within a wider whole. Art is my means to do that.
Charting pollen colour
We often make the mistake of thinking large and visible equates to more important.
The Pollen Colour Charts started in 2018, when I observed my Honey bees bringing opera rose red and ultramarine blue pollen in through their hive entrance to feed the young.
I just had to find out if what I was seeing was real.
From this came many happy hours gathering beekeepers observations about the pollen loads in field bees ‘baskets’.
Try it yourself. Next time you see a Honey bee working a flower, take a look at their back legs.
HIVE MIND
That one moment led to me making large works on paper charting the colours of the pollen loads of Honey bees and matching these to the plants that their food comes from.
The research behind that is held in a growing database recording over 1700 plant food sources for pollinators.
Co-operative behaviour allows each Honey bee colony to have a collective intelligence equaling that of a small mammal. Their success is determined by their social behaviour. They have a hive mind.
This suggests to me that small does not equate to less important. Individuals contributions determine how well a group thrives. An entire biosphere relies on uncelebrated operations at a cellular and elemental level.
which plants have the best pollen for BEES
Title: ‘Hive Mind’ Media : Gouache and ink on Fabriano Dimensions : 2000 x 1400mm
THE PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS
When science is depicted patterns become visible
Title: The Periodic Table of Elements
Media: Mixed media on paper. 700 x 950 mm
$1200
MAPPING MY WAY
I learn about our world
and map my place in it via Art.
If I can’t find what I’m looking for
I create it myself.
I approach maps as art,
they’re hand drawn and painted,
as accurate as my skills allow,
and no more.
It seems to me that New Zealand is rarely placed centre stage by cartographers.
Fine for the rest of the World
not for New Zealanders
Our place in the global picture sits at the margins in most depictions.
When seen as a whole,
rather than cut in half,
it turns out
the Pacific Ocean is vast
and Oceania is substantial.
Hand painted map of the world and its oceans
Map
Title: The Worlds Oceans
Media: Limited edition stamped signed giclée print on A2 archival paper $250
Artists Proof $400
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Title: Terrace Downs Rakaia Gorge
Media: Limited edition giclée print on archival paper
Title: Mt Hutt Region
Media: Limited edition giclée print on archival paper
‘The World and its Oceans’
Exhibited at the 2023 International Cartographic Conference
Artist/Creator: Juliana Child
Medium: Gouache on paper
Country of Origin: New Zealand/Aotearoa
Date completed: January 2023
Published by: As yet unpublished
Date Published: As yet unpublished
Language used in the legend: English
Map Image dimensions: 509 mm x 705 mm
Paper perimeter dimensions: 580 mm x 755 mm
Abstract:
We are at a pivotal moment in time where Climate Change Is reshaping our planet’s fragile surface.
This map depicts our world from a less than usual antipodean viewpoint; with our vast Pacific Ocean placed in the middle, without bisection.
Oceania, the continent at the centre of this map is very much shaped by the sea and impacted by rapidly rising sea levels.
This hand-painted, bathymetric map utilises The Mercator Projection in a generalised depiction focusing on Earths oceans.
Sea depths are coloured in deepening gradations of blue, with their boundaries at 200, 500 and then every 1000 metres.
I approached this map of EARTH’S OCEANS from an artist's perspective. THE aesthetics of Cartography HAVE BEEN utilised with a Fine Arts mindset.
IT CAPTURES A MOMENT IN A TIME DURING OF RAPID CHANGE FOR OUR BIOSPHERE.
As a Fellow of the Linnean Society,
my hope is that in some small way IMAGES contribute to our natural world “being better understood, valued and protected”.
Botanical art
Title: Rangiora leaf, underside, Brachyglottis repanda
Media:
Limited edition signed stamped giclée print on archival paper
$80
Title: Pōhutukawa Leaves
Metrosideros excelsa
Media:
Limited edition signed stamped giclée print on archival paper
$80
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2021 BASNZ Exhibition Space Gallery
Botanical art
Wanganui Chronicle article
about BASNZ group Exhibition
at Space Gallery
ARTICHOKE STUDY I
Gouache on Fabriano 569 x 500 mm
Artichoke study ii
Gouache on Fabriano 1450 x 850 mm
Originals
One of a kind original artworks on heavyweight archival paper.
Each is uniquely watermarked and signed. Shipped to you freight free, flat and unframed, by courier. The artist retains copyright.
850x1400 $2000 NZD
850x1200 $1900 NZD
850x1000 $1800 NZD
800x950 $1700 NZD
800x800 $1600 NZD
800x700 $1500 NZD
700x750 $1400 NZD
700x700 $1300 NZD
700x650 $1200 NZD
650x650 $1100 NZD
500x500 $800 NZD
250x250 $400 NZD
Prices are GST and shipping inclusive within NZ
Artist’s PRooF Prints
These are a handful of the first prints made, that the artist thinks are good enough to then proceed to a larger edition. Artist’s Proofs are in effect a mini-edition, 10% of the size of the Limited Edition.
Yours will be one of only three Artist’s Proofs ever produced. Each is printed on archival paper, then individually watermarked, signed and labelled A/P.
The artist retains copyright.
A2 $400 NZD
A3 $300 NZD
A4 $200 NZD
Prices are GST and shipping inclusive within NZ
Limited Edition art prints
Editions are limited to thirty prints. Each is printed is on archival paper, then individually watermarked, signed and editioned. 10% of profits go to native regeneration of the delicate and unique ecosystem of the Rakaia.
A2 $250 NZD
A3 $135 NZD
A4 $80 NZD
Prices are GST and shipping inclusive within NZ
Affiliations
- Fellow of the Linnean Society of London https://www.linnean.org/
- Member of the New Zealand Cartographic Society https://cartography.org.nz/
- Member of the Data Visualization Society https://www.datavisualizationsociety.org/
- Member of The Association of Botanical Artists https://www.assocbotanicalartists.com/
Buy
- Directly from me in-studio
- Online by emailing me. julianachildart@gmail.com
- Both prints and originals available
- The artist retains copyright
contact
Mobile : +64 21 373 910
Studio : Windwhistle, New Zealand
Email : julianachildart@gmail.com
In a world gone digital my artworks are analogue, hand drawn interpretations of information about our natural world. You’re viewing them virtually, and I’m thankful for the knowledge made available online.
I contend there is a place for the physical. I know I need to dig my fingers into the soil, I need books on my shelves, Art on my walls and pigments and paper on my desk.
©2023 J Child. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
All artwork IS copyrighted by the artist.
Copying, saving, reproducing, republishing of thIS artwork
Is prohibited without express permission of the artist.