Julia Blume (American) is a New York based sculptor, painter, and writer. She received her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2018, after earning her BA and MA in linguistics from Columbia University and UC San Diego. Through sculpture, painting, and narrative, Julia Blume imagines a world where plants and more-than-human animals conspire to break down the received dichotomies of life/matter, artificial/natural, inside/outside, and human/animal. The focus of her recent work is sculptures made from wire mesh, epoxy, pumice, acrylic paint, dyed polyester fringe, meticulously sourced faux flowers, and more. In these sculptures, plants that have been cultivated by humans for economic and agricultural reasons come together to create sinuous, lumpy, symbiotic collectives which reflect their self-determination. Net-like forms reference roots weaving through cracks in walls and tearing them down, and tuber-like forms suggest loci of plant interaction and communication. These organic forms are intentionally created from highly processed materials, leading the viewer to question the false dichotomy of “natural” and “artificial”.
Solo and Duo exhibitions include Julia Blume: The Walled Garden, The Front, New York, NY (2023), Julia Blume and Heather Drayzen: as long as you want, My Pet Ram, New York, NY (2023), Julia Blume: Signs in the Thicket, Brian Leo Projects, New York, NY (2021), Julia Blume: Became the Peregrine, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA (2018).
Group exhibitions include (Upcoming) Midsummer Night's Dream, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2025); Glimmers on the Surface, :iidrr Gallery, New York, NY (2024), In the Garden, Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua, NY (2024), Living Arrangements, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY (2023), Reimagining Rural, ChaShaMa, Brooklyn, NY (2022), A Daze of Roses, Mizuma and Kips, New York, NY (2021), The Other Side of the Rainbow, ArtPort Kingston, Kingston, NY (2021), Strange Paradigm, Youngspace, Virtual (2021), Nice to See You Again, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY (2021), Good Bones, I Like Your Work, Virtual (2021), Ouroboros, RSOAA, Brooklyn, NY (2021), Remake/Remodel, RSOAA, Brooklyn, NY (2020), Inaugural Show, Brian Leo Projects, New York, NY (2020).
Highlights and Collections
Blume is the founder and curator of “In/Passing” and has worked on curating Whisper in the Roots, My Pet Ram, New York, NY (2023), Ether, In/Passing, New York, NY (2020), In/Passing, New York, NY (2019), Two Silences Leaning Together, In/Passing, New York, NY (2019) Speak, Muse, In/Passing, New York, NY (2019), Edge and Over, The Swell Gallery, San Francisco, CA (2015), Victoria Maidhof, The Swell Gallery, San Francisco, CA (2015).
She has participated in residencies with Signal Fire, ChaNorth, and ArtsIceland, and she was a fellow in Tania Bruguera’s Escuela de Arte Útil. She was a finalist for the Hopper Prize, and her work has been featured in Two Coats of Paint, Create! Magazine, Youngspace, Bat City Review, Friend of the Artist, and more.