THE BLUE SOLDIER

Julia Callis

august 28th - September 27th

The Blue Soldier is a multimedia project that envisions the blue whale as an accumulation of self. Largest of all mammals, blue whales are preyed on by orcas, not for food, but for fun. Orcas tear out the blue whales’ tongue and jaw, dismember their flotation device, causing them to sink to the bottom of the ocean and drown.

Callis considers the blue whale as a self-reflecting metaphor, representing the grandiose paired with a feeling of inconsequence or tongue-less-ness. With this idea, began the construction of a personal form of iconography with the blue whale as an omnipresent figure in the presence of other elements within the artist’s life that she perceives as sacred.
Interested in the perception of iconography and the definition of a sacred form, Callis brings recognizable objects and figures that she considers meaningful into her work and blurs the line of common and symbolic form. The Blue Soldier serves to interpret the personal connection that people form with common objects and the development of sentimental value to iconic form.

Julia Callis (b. Detroit, MI) constructs paintings by intertwining personal events and interactions through a nonlinear thought process. She floats literal objects within abstraction, drawing imagery from her own poems and personal idioms, treating each compilation as sacred.
Callis received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Penny Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan. She completed two intensive independent studies in printmaking and poetry, focusing primarily on monoprints, and began her practice of written word as a her preferred form of sketching. Callis studied serigraphy in Florence, Italy and led various art-based workshops with elementary school students in Detroit Public Schools. She currently works for Popps Packing, an artist residency program and makes work out of Klinger Studios, both based in Hamtramck, Michigan.