Julie De Vries Drink My Hair

“The intention of my work is to assimilate found images and texts for the purpose of constructing narratives through mixed media drawings and various direct printing techniques. Travel is a very important step in my creative process because it allows me to study new surroundings with fresh eyes as I collect visual raw materials along the way.The seemingly random words and images are derived form overheard conversations, or from discarded printed media and photographs and are meticulously gathered and recombined in a series of sketchbooks. These sketchbook pages provide the rough drafts for larger works and sometimes are the finished pieces.

Contextually I deal with three reoccurring themes: history, travel, and cultural perspectives. History, because I believe that an unbiased account of a non-fictional event is impossible to obtain therefore I feel the need to recount the event with my own bias.Travel as a result of my journeys and study in many countries of Latin America such asCuba, Argentina and Brazil. Finally, other cultural perspectives help me to better understand my own behaviors and mixed origins and those of others who surround me wherever I am.”

Julie De Vries was born on November 11th, 1980 in Houston, TX. At nine years old she traveled to Argentina with her father, a trip that would greatly influence her art making later in life. She graduated from high school in 1999 in Spring, Texas. She then received her bachelors of fine arts degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003. During her junior year at the school she spent a semester abroad in Argentina to study Latin American art history, live with her extended family, and travel throughout the region. After her undergraduate studies she returned to Houston where she married fellow artist and teacher Sebastien Boncy. Currently she is persuing her Masters degree and teaching at the University of Houston.