Menu

Julia Forte LSDC

Mixed Media

About julia
Julia has lived in London all her life and in Soho for 30 years. She loves London and its history. Having worked in the fields of decorative arts – Italian plastering, model making, fine art, painting and casting – all this, along with her love of London, history and maps has culminated into a new found love for creating desirable and unique globes. ​
Biography Back to top

Julia Forte was born in and is living in Central London. A multi-disciplinary, innovative artist, her primary focus is globe making and oil painting. She has 30 years experience using multimedia techniques and finds ways to introduce new elements to old techniques.

Previously she focussed on anatomical paintings, drawings and casting. This led to multiple commissions for artists and designers for shows and exhibitions. This theme has remained throughout her work

Julia is fascinated by the history of London and its early maps and prospects. This love of historic records has been brought together with her artistic talents and knowledge of globe making and now she creates globes featuring historic city maps.

In recent months she has been exploring Dutch paintings of the 18th century, focussing on the Vanitas paintings of this era and the meaning behind the symbols depicted. This has led to further explorations in creating globes that depict such symbols and using the flow of a sphere to embellish the meanings and symbolism behind the objects in the paintings.

Julia uses traditional techniques to create her globes. She casts the sphere in two parts, then carefully joins them to create a perfect sphere. Once joined, 12 paper gores depicting the map are pasted onto the sphere, after which a process of burnishing and varnishing is used to finish each globe.

Resumé Back to top

Exhibitions

  • 2021 - Fisher London - Solo Exhibition - ‘A sense of time and place’. Hand made Globes depicting historic London maps and panoramas.
  • 2017 - ‘Mapped’ Londonist. Museum of London exhibition of hand drawn London maps.
  • 2016 - ‘Primitve Streak’ : Helen Storey, collaboration, Hayward Gallery, Wellcome foundation, UK/worldwide exhibitions depicting the first 100 hours of life. Sculpture, pewter casting.
  • 2015 - London Fashion Week: Michiko Koshino, skeletal sculptures.

Commissions

  • 2021 - Multiple bespoke globes for clients which depict a specific location on an historic London map.
  • JMA Architects - bespoke architectural commission.
  • Private client, bespoke architectural casting and decorative painting for exhibition of fine antiques.
  • 2019 - Oil paintings commission for international client with the theme of Vanitas/Memento Mori
  • 2018 - Corporate client: Pewter cast skeletal sculpture for awards ceremony.
Other Makers in Mixed Media