Julie Oh

Lives and works in Maberly, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Artist statement

My work is centered on the emotional and conceptual power of objects, often drawing on both industrial and personal items to playfully examine notions of labor, mortality, purpose and faith. Starting from each object as a new question and set of possibilities, I make minimal interventions to redirect their purpose—an approach I use to cause a subtle short-circuiting of recognition and meaning. These conceptual experiments are then arranged and measured against space, where complex correlation between persons, conditions, and objects can unfold.

Artwork

• Dwelling , 2026. Bird deterrents, plywood
• IVF Checkers, 2025. Medication vials used for fertility treatment (Menopur, made from nun's urine and dilutant), oak game board
• Pouch, 2026. Gourd, one rice grain
• Tides, 2023. "Tides" brings together a series of found objects related to change and navigation — slow and fast, seasonal and episodic.
• NL Classifieds, 2023. LIfe raft, whale ear bone
• OX M-K,S,Q, 2021. 70 medical grade oxygen cylinders
• messenger, 2022. American Eagle Outfitters t-shirts, wood crate
• dormant, 2021. Vehicle front end cover, dental mould, clamp
• grand opening, 2024. Ribbon, toilet paper dispenser
• Lungs, 2019. My mother's electric blanket, LED lights
• Chess, 2019. My mother's pill bottles, steel cabinet
• Operation (Classic and Contemporary), 2019. Altered board games
• Your Hog Has Arrived , 2019. In this exhibition "Your Hog Has Arrived", a cardboard motorcycle shipping container found on the curb-side of a Harley Davidson dealership provided the point of departure from which all subsequent forms and questions derived.
• lines, 2018. In this installation, wood mouldings, typically used for home decor, took on new spatial dimensions, soaring from floor to ceiling and gliding up or down in the museum’s elevator.