JULIE ARBOUR

Textile designer & printer

 
Julie Arbour is hand printing a silk scarf at the workshop
 
 

Bringing bold prints to life

Spontaneity is the guiding thread, the starting point of my compositions, whether in my work with fabric finishing or in the design of prints. While for a long time I suppressed a creative instinct, I now allow myself to be carried away by a freedom of being with which I nourish my approach as a textile designer and give free rein to my artistic expression. This new independence I feel, I integrate it fully into my creations, enriching them with an emotional dimension.

My artistic approach is marked by two complementary facets of my being, merging both a state of lightness and flânerie, with that of a daring, adventurous spirit, plunging into the heart of the action. Following an introspection, I developed a plastic language to express these capacities of wonder and discovery that inhabit me, translating into an abundant use of shimmering colours and rays of brilliance. I find this radiance, among other things, in silk, a solar material that embraces the beauty, softness and curves of femininity, which awakens in me the pleasure of touching.

Driven by a desire for perpetual renewal, my prints reflect my interiority, my consuming curiosity, my rebellion against monotonous conformity, my intrepid playfulness. The forms are abstract, diverted, often marked by geometry, leaving the viewer the possibility of interpretation, the choice of analysis. 

The printed textiles superimpose rich, saturated hues; the textures exhibit the metallic finish of gilding, the precision of hand screen printing and the gradient effects of monotype. In addition to silk, natural fibres such as cotton and linen provide the desired lustre. The essence of these components is studied with curiosity in order to explore their volume and to imagine a certain opulence. Like an architectural work by Gaudi, or a historic novel by Dumas, my textile creations are extravagant, generous, unusual, endowed with a unique and precious character. 

My signature style is one of creative fever and passion, symbolizing my aestheticism and freedom.

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