Julie Lake: Compendium

For this work, the only material used is very small diameter stainless steel wire, sometimes as fine as a strand of hair. It is joined by an arc welding process, but the artist uses the welder like a sewing machine, stitching and piecing together these threads of metal. So, it is within these parameters of limited material and limited process that Lake can “search for an authentic place.” It seems to rest between the industrial and the domestic. The nature of steel and welding typically yields formidable and often imposing works. But, as opposed to hefty steel sculptures or structures that assert themselves, she is drawn to experimental forms that invite curiosity for those willing to look more closely; gestures that often seem reluctant to be defined as a things unto themselves.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.