Julz Beresford

Julz is an expressive artist who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UNSW Art & Design (COFA). She has been recognised as a finalist in several art competitions including the Hornsby Art Prize 2019, the Northern Beaches Art Show 2019, and the Mosman 2088 in 2019 and 2020.

An essential part of Beresford’s practice is being in the landscape, to be still and present observing nuances which inform the way she focuses her attention. It is here that Beresford collects her Gouache studies and drawings which later become a critical part of her studio-based work. These ‘Plein Air’ studies refocus her mind back to what had captured her attention.

Often Beresford responds to the colour of her subjects and searches for locations where she finds a connection. One which pushes her studio-based practice to rethink the physical application of this expression. She is interested in questioning the physical process of mark making in such a way that translates the observed ‘real’ into an expressive piece of art. She ask’s herself ‘how does the process of mark making translate the essence of the place I’m trying to recreate’?

Beresford’s intent is for the audience to feel engaged with the energy of the landscape. Her works are both an expressive piece of the whole process, and an embodiment of how it actually feels to be there. Her paintings have a sense of intense energy. She paints ‘Alla Prima’ with a vigorous and spirited application challenging herself to remain in the moment and ‘solve’ the painting as a whole.

Beresford likes to work on multiple locations at once, keeping herself alert. She finds the expression of one landscape can, and will, inform the other. The purpose being to constantly question the physical application, and where it takes her work.

In this body of work ‘Still and Present’, Beresford has once again returned to the memories of her childhood. Contrasting her romantic views of the countryside with the euphoria experienced, while boating on her local waterway. Both landscapes working together building a language of mark marking which inadvertently directs each other. She treats her studio-based practice as a learning journey where she constantly challenges herself on ‘how she sees’ in order to physically interpret her ‘reality’ of the Australian landscape. Moulding a style of storytelling which relay the emotions of her mind. A bold type of realistic expressionism.