Julia Roche explores her immediate surroundings situated in the ever-changing landscape, bearing witness to the emotive and sublime qualities of the environment. She grew-up and currently lives on Wiradjuri country at the property ‘Wooroola’ near Mangoplah in regional New South Wales. As land custodians Roche and her family are learning about, and respect the changing cycles of the ecosystem and the disquieting power of nature.
Her paintings elicit conversations about our relationship with the environment, encouraging a shift away from transient, fleeting associations towards more sustained, symbiotic connections. Working in her studio, a repurposed woolshed, she is immersed in the landscape and exposed to the elements. Her layering processes and intuitive gestural marks are abstract transfigurations of the real and the illusory, evoking the essence of place and marking a moment in time.
Residencies on country such as the regenerative farm ‘Bibbaringa’ at Bowna have inspired and informed her practice, alongside time spent living in Africa in 2004 and her travels to Asia. Roche gained a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the Sydney College of the Arts in 2008 and a Master of Teaching – Arts from the University of Western Sydney in 2012.
Roche’s paintings move beyond simply depicting her surrounds and reflect the atmospheric changes and emotive qualities of the land at night. Her surety of touch reveals her empathetic relationship with the environment and deep understanding of the power of nature. - Rebecca Blake