Artist Statement

My work explores layers—transparent and opaque—as a metaphor for the ways we carry what has come before us while navigating the present. What is hidden can sometimes be more revealing than what is seen. I am drawn to this paradox, and to the spaces between what we know, what we remember, what we reveal and what we keep hidden.

A recurring thread in my work is the idea of compartments and compartmentalizing our lives, both literally and figuratively. We separate work from family, heritage from the present, one experience from another. Sometimes we compartmentalize as a way of coping; at other times, we create compartments to preserve something precious—to hold onto a memory, a moment of joy, or a sense of belonging. I am interested in how these divisions can protect us, limit us, or become part of the way we understand ourselves and one another.

Collective memory and resilience are increasingly finding their way into my work. I am interested in what we inherit, what we carry, what we choose to keep, and what we might transform. These ideas often emerge through materials and processes as much as through subject matter.

My process is rooted in layering, building and breaking through to discover what lies beneath. Although the underlying idea is often carefully considered, the work itself develops organically through the process of making. I work across painting, mixed media and fiber, using materials including acrylic, oil and cold wax, fiber and stitch. Mark-making, texture and the physical act of layering create surfaces that are both constructed and revealed.

I am drawn to work that can be compelling and meditative at once—work that invites attention without giving everything away. Ultimately, I strive for a kind of beauty that does not depend on prettiness, and for work that leaves room for the viewer to bring something of their own experience to it.

I am most influenced by artists with a brave heart

Julie Weaverling is a Southern California artist working across painting, fiber, conceptual and installation art. Her distinctive artistic voice explores the spaces between us—the choices, connections, tensions and quiet complexities that shape our shared experience. She strives to uplift while creating beauty in her work—without it having to be pretty.

Julie is the founder of Lift the Sky, a global art initiative inviting artists to consider the question, “What’s your message to the world?” The project explores individual perspectives while creating a collective conversation around hope, connection and the future. Following its inaugural exhibition in early 2023, Lift the Sky was exhibited at ArtPrize Grand Rapids in Fall 2023, where it was selected as a Top 25 Finalist from more than 750 artists. The project was subsequently exhibited at the Unity Center in San Diego in 2024 and early 2025 and continues to pursue new venues.

From 2006 through 2023, Julie served at Front Porch Gallery, a nonprofit gallery in Carlsbad, California. During her tenure, and as Director, she curated and juried exhibitions, worked with regional and national artists, and developed arts programming for residents across ten Front Porch retirement communities. Her work included traveling exhibitions and numerous large-scale collaborative projects that brought artists and communities together.

Julie’s first large-scale fiber art project, Clarity Comes in Waves, marked a significant expansion of her artistic practice beyond painting. The work received the Award of Excellence in the 2025 Northern National Art Competition and has since been selected for numerous exhibitions and publications, including Fibre Arts Take Two: Time Well Spent, ArtPrize Grand Rapids 2025 at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, the Oceanside Museum of Art Artist Alliance 2025–2026 Biennial, Brea Gallery’s 41st Made in California, the 2026 San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild International Online Exhibition, and Sasse Museum of Art’s Oh! Color Juried Exhibition Catalog.