Julie Strasheim
Capturing the Ephemeral

Julie Strasheim is an artist who has travelling as a constant, who frequently connects with diverse people, societies and atmospheres. She is a visual artist and has also found a passion for tango, an activity that allows her to explore another side of human relationships; the movement, rhythm and sensations of the dance are reflected in her artworks.

Capturing the Ephemeral Experiences of Art in Printmaking (by Julie Strasheim)
Inspired by the international community, I find motivation for my art by engaging with people from around the globe, whether through teaching, dancing, or as an artist. I am committed to contributing to the world and seek connection in my interactions while striving to continually uncover my own voice and identity as they are constantly rediscovered and shaped with each experience.

My project is about sensations, taking what is essentially transitory and making it permanent through prints and ink drawings. It is about entering a heightened state of awareness and the feeling of being fully present in one’s body through dancing tango and staying in that space while creating works on paper to communicate that presence. There are elements of memory involved and the distortions of reinterpretation and recall that shape the work. There may be struggle and error in the lines in their attempt to preserve that which has already passed. My project is at its core about a paradox, one that humans reinvent continually, trying to preserve moments of feeling most alive. Nonetheless, all is not lost in this attempt at preservation as something else is born in the process, in this case the drawings. In part this work is concerned with the way we seek to possess beauty in the physical world, however in vain as beauty is not about the tangible but rather sensations brought about by a combination of conditions that are never fully reproducible. It is an investigation into growing both because of and despite memory. The attempt to preserve past experiences can create ugly mutations of them at times and beautifully melancholic reflections at others. In some regards my project is paying homage to the humanness of not letting go of what captivates us as we try to recreate it, unsuccessfully, however perhaps resulting in something equally enthralling.