Julz Beresford ‘A Tactile Journey of Regrowth’

Julz 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. Her finished works have a purposeful display of expressive layers of creamy impasto paint, which Julz often compares to cake icing.

Working from her plein air studies, she utterly enjoys creating her rich Australian palette. Her energetic process of working, contrasts with the quiet and considered moments she greatly enjoys while in the landscape, where she works in gauche on paper.

In this body of work Julz takes us on a journey. A discovery, mirroring her own, where she follows the river from the Upper Hunter Region through to the Hawkesbury River, her local backyard, then onto the Snowy Mountains.

Water in Julz’s work is a space of calm and rest in comparison to the bush, which is alive with colour and ordered chaos. Julz describes the textural application of her paint as extremely important in expressing her love of the rough scrappy Australian bush. ‘I find its messy chaos so captivating and want the viewer to feel transported there.’

Mixing and moulding the artwork into the story and emotions of her mind. A bold type of realistic expressionism where she relies on her memory to relay the essence of that place at that particular time.

Julz feels at ease in the outdoors. She shows a deep regard for the landscape, studying the flora in order to express the scene’s particular identity, which varies across her artworks.

The mountain scenes are reflective of spring’s melting snow which expose the native grasslands and flowers. The rocky windswept mountain tops bear truth to extreme alpine storms, with their distinct leaning snow gums creating a sense of drama.

The countryside in the Upper Hunter was awash with colour. The intense vibrant colours of these country artworks speak to Julz’s art practice, where she is particularity interested in expressing the place at that moment in time. To return in another season could tell a different story.

“I am always open to what I find in the landscape, even when I’m not looking. The magic of the place surprises and strikes a chord in me. Sometimes I try to capture it and sometimes it’s just there for enjoyment as I bank the memory.” Julz Beresford.