Metal sculpture is often seen as a “masculine” form of art. We call bullshit. Gendering art and artforms like this is about power and exclusion, not about some inherent, gendered quality.
Julia Paloma creates metal sculptures that are inviting and cozy. Metal work doesn’t have to be on grand scales and using expensive materials. Though some of her pieces are made with bronze, most are made from scrap aluminum. Others are concrete made with vermiculite and peat moss. While some are sculptures in the traditional sense, others are small, made to fit in your hand like a worry stone or fidget toy. Paloma’s work gives us a glimpse at what metal sculpture can be outside of the confines of grand public works and white walled cubes. How just because metal is hard doesn’t mean it can’t convey comfort and intimacy.
See the Exhibition
Paloma’s work will be on display at The Beautiful Cat from June 28 – July 31, 2025. As a window gallery, the works will be viewable 24/7 at the northeast corner of Granville and Winthrop. It is located just a half block east of the Granville Red Line stop and a block west of the 147 express bus at 1070 W Granville, Chicago, IL 60660.
Meet the Artist
Julia Paloma
Artist
Julia Paloma’s art presents mostly in metal, using casting processes for aluminum and bronze as well as welding and brazing scrap metal. Many pieces combine scrap metal from industry or agriculture with cast bronze components that often take a more organic shape. Julia collaborates with these materials to explore her internal processing of external experiences, creating objects that can communicate those internal thoughts to others. She also works as programming manager at Chicago Industrial Arts and Design Center in Rogers Park and occasionally teaches in their metal casting department.
Artist Statement
Over the past 20 years…
Over the past 20 years, metalworking and casting have found a way to occupy more and more space and time in my life. I started with one week out of the year, welding alongside my mom in a class at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico starting in 2006. In 2015 I moved on to taking weekly casting classes at CIADC, and by 2018 I increased my dose to about 9 hours a week between teaching, taking classes and monitoring in the casting shop, and in 2023 I finally transitioning away from full-time work in programs for children birth-to-five to full-time work at CIADC as the programming manager in 2023.
I think of my work in metal casting these objects as a series of conversations with the various materials that I use to bring about an object. I start with an idea, or with an object to use as a pattern. Then the conversation expands to include a material like sand, and as it molds around the pattern, it adds to what the pattern and I have been talking about. I add some more comments, carving in details in the sand or adjusting the shape in the mold. Pouring the metal is a group effort too–other people join the conversation as they help me lift equipment and tip the crucible to fill the mold. Finally the metal and mold take over the conversation and decide together how this new object will look. Most of the time they echo what I planned, but sometimes they have other ideas. The next part of the conversation is me and the metal, deciding together what we will do with the statement the metal and mold made together. The finishing tools and I get the last word–at least I think we do. By the end of the process, the object and I have built a relationship that ultimately reflects my acceptance of the results of this process.
The objects I make are important to me, of course, whether I’m casting the smooth curves of an eggplant or welding scrap metal together. But what is most dear to me is that every time I do these things, I am reminded that I (and you) are amazing. That our hands, bodies, minds and spirits can take wax, or a cabbage leaf, and accomplish these wonderful results? And they can be shared with others? Astonishing.
Poetry by Maya Paloma
Julia Paloma’s daughter Maya has been a continual source of inspiration, just like collard leaves and the New Mexico landscape have been. Because Paloma’s work is based on connection and the many conversations she has with people, plants, and materials. Enjoy these selected poems written by Maya Paloma. You will find these and more poetry in the exhibition catalog.
When the Party’s Over
someone’s toe caught the trip wire;
the night tilted on its side.
so our sparkling plans
turned to expensive plastic flowers:
pretty while you looked,
ruined once you felt it.
and this is how things fall apart, i thought.
we will all spin apart.
Untitled
Growth, I find, is often
Not so different from dying, emotional
Auto amputation, pieces that used to be
Mine and their ooze slipping
Into the earth. Here
Comes the sweet clotting smell
Of that dead fox I still remember.
One day, a nest of roots will tangle through the dirt where
My body used to be, eating
My nitrogen, my phosphorus.
Think how much I’ll grow then.
Music that inspired Paloma
Interview with Julia Paloma – Coming Soon!
Support the Artist
Bring Julia’s original sculptures home or add her work to your bookshelf with an exhibition catalog.
Buy Julia’s Art – Coming Soon!
Buy the Exhibition Catalog – Coming Soon!