By Michele Deluca
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS —
The fire crackles against an early winter chill in Julie Silver’s Lewiston studio. The first impression of a new visitor is the co-mingling of serenity and order. A closer look reveals even her tools arranged in artly style, with a trio of drills perfectly spaced and aligned and shelves full of rocks and metals arranged so that their rough-hewn promise adds to their allure.
Even the door to her Bronson Drive cottage studio is a piece of art, hand carved and re-commissioned from an old Buffalo hotel, now acting as a sort of chef’s treat to whet the appetite for what lies within.
Upstairs, in the loft gallery, where she plans ever-changing exhibits of her creations, there is the opening exhibit which was celebrated by more than a hundred guests at her November gallery-warming.
Among those at the “warming” were Brigitte Beck and her husband, Manfred, who already have two of Silver’s sculptures and who purchased another at the opening.
“What we like about Julie is not only her total commitment to the technical aspect of the bronze casting process, but also to her creativity as an artist which results in unique pieces of art and not just commercial run-of-the-mill art made in China and sold at T.J. Maxx,” Beck said.
Examining Silver’s work, it seems as if her heart and her imagination play together relentlessly and during a walkthrough with the artist, each piece appears to be her special favorite.
One striking wood sculpture is a tribute to a best friend, Lorien, who died of cancer. The wooden arms are carved and intertwined, the wrists bent at an angle of submission to represent the frailty of the human body, but the marbled wood is also a reminder of the strength of the human spirit. The sculpture is made from salvaged redwood, because just about everything Silver creates is from material she has found or salvaged.
“I pull over to the side of the road all the time,” she said, laughing as she detailed her ability to see treasures in trash. “I hope people in the neighborhood aren’t afraid.”
The ‘95 Lewiston-Porter High School graduate, who has sculptures in many places around the world — including Latvia, Finland and Estonia — has been an artist as long as she can remember. She fondly recalls the days of her youth, biking to Artpark when it was alive with cutting-edge exhibitions and those who created them. Now that her small studio is open, she plans to eventually use the land
sculpture park, open to the public. While her commissioned work is priced in the thousands, she is currently working to create art that is more accessible to the general public.
“What I am trying to do is create sculptures that are more affordable,” she said, showing a line of limited edition jewelry comprised of miniature sculptures priced from $50 to $200.
In addition, she wants to engage more humans in the act of creating, noting that too many are stopped by teachers who judged them too harshly.
“One bad art teacher and people think they can’t draw,” she said. “The important thing for them to understand is how easy it is to express themselves.”
As such, she teaches workshops and private lessons in sculpting, jewelry making, drawing and painting. And she is inclined to urge others to follow one of the inspirational thoughts she lives by: “Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about revealing yourself.”
Throughout her little loft gallery, Julie Silver is revealed, from the intense emotion expressed in the intertwined arms of her lost friend, to the metal woman’s form adorned with a metal horn that appears to float in space; to her tribute to the deceased computer genius, Steve Jobs.
“He was one of my heroes. He brought creativity to the common person,” she explained, showing one piece that includes a giant microchip being compressed through a lathe.
“Ultimately, I’m just trying to deal with human emotion in my work,” she said. “My rhythm, my form, my prayer is through creation. It gives me place to put my feelings.”
Contact Features Editor Michele DeLuca at 282-2311, ext. 2263.
