Julie Schenkelberg

Lives and works in Cleveland, OH, USA

Artist statement

My mixed-media installations transform notions of domesticity, femininity and engage with the American Rust Belt's legacy of abandonment, decay and transformation. Having grown up in Cleveland- I create sculptures and installations about finding beauty and meaning in post-industrial mess and reinvention. Using discarded industrial materials and once revered domestic objects, I create places of sacred arrival from my feminine underheard perspective, unearthing stories, blending with spirituality and regenerating lost beauty. I do this primarily through site-specific installations in a myriad of locations, ranging from vacant buildings to museum and gallery spaces, constructed with found materials from scrap yards, dumpsters, construction sites, estate sales and family members. I often cut invasively into buildings and furniture, altering their states to release forgotten stories and bring forward transformation. I make castings of lost objects and create new archeological sites, reaching for our human archetypes across cultures. I research and incorporate objects specific to a project’s location. These installations seek to find a universal sacred in these abandoned buildings, objects, lives, jobs and stories, cutting across time and cultures. I interpret them into a new story of re-embrace, transition into a new phase and a healing of the past. The sacredness of these industrial ruins, domestic objects and historical spaces inspire my story and hold the foundation for my...

Artwork