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Title
Raindrops on Roses and Souvenirs
Artist
Julie Alpert
Year
2025
Medium
Acrylic on maple plywood
Dimensions
53'-0" x 7'-0" and 50'-0" x 7'-0"
Credits
Photography: James Harnois
Description of Artwork
As with all my site-responsive large-scale projects, I began with stream-of-consciousness paper collage mockups. After about 10 five-foot iterations of each arrangement, I arrived at the final compositions. Instead of ignoring the vents and conveyor, I wanted to draw attention to them by positioning the shapes to look like they were pushing against, bending around, or resting atop these functional details. The long squat horizontal locations seemed like they needed to be divided into smaller sections, each with their own nonsensical logic and relationships. I wanted the hand-painted cut-wood forms to feel like cut-paper (hence the white borders) dancing across the walls in conversation with each other. The imagery references sticker collecting, girl scout badges, charm bracelets, and secret passed notes from my 1980s suburban Maryland childhood. My hope was that the joyful colors and nostalgic shapes would be a welcome respite for weary travelers at the end of their journeys.
About the Artist
Julie Alpert (b. 1980) is a Seattle-based installation artist originally from Silver Spring, MD. She earned a BA from the University of Maryland and an MFA from the University of Washington, in painting and drawing. She has received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Artist Trust, and Oklahoma Visual Art Coalition and has participated in artist residencies across the US including two MacDowell fellowships, Roswell Artist in Residence Program, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, VCCA, I-Park Foundation, and Amazon Spheres. Her works in the collections of the Anderson Museum, Facebook Seattle, Ledger Bentonville, Port of Seattle, Seattle Public Utilities, King County, and the Washington State Art Collection. She is represented by J. Rinehart Gallery in Seattle and has been commissioned to create installations for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Museum of Craft and Design San Francisco, and San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. She is married to the artist Andy Arkley, who is also in the Port collection, and they live with their three cats Coconut, Koala, and Baby Cloud.
