Charleston native Julie Henson warns viewers of her art show at Indie Grits to steer themselves for "some confusing images." Her display, Parallel Horizons, explores interpretations of the future by using a spread of magazines from the '60s, '70s and '80s. Each of Henson's pieces aims to show how past generations of Americans envisioned the future, giving today's viewers an interesting mix of déjà vu and clairvoyance — she uses things from the past to depict her view of future.
This is the College of Charleston grad's first year showing at Indie Grits, and she said her work takes on a lot of forms and often changes depending on the exhibition venue’s focus. In this case, Indie Grits showcases videos, sculptures, outdoor art installations, drawings and images.
“It takes intelligence, awareness, innovation, but most importantly dedication and some serious hard work,” she said.
Henson said she's really impressed with this year's group of arists and stressed that people should attend the events because “you may get the chance to think about something new or see your own personal ideas in a new light.”
Henson aspires to evoke a sense of wonder and uneasiness with her work and aims to make her work both recognizable and foreign — some of her biggest inspirations include Mike Kelley, Pierre Huyghe and Robert Heinecken. She said she spends a lot of time looking at advertising images, trying to stay in tune with pop culture and researching a variety of popular religions to create her designs.
“The greatest impact art has had on my life is in the way I look at the world around me,” she said.
Studying art has shown Henson how to be observant and engage in her community’s strengths and weaknesses, while inspiring her to help make her community a better place. Being an artist takes work, she said, but it’s not any more difficult than being an entrepreneur.
Henson finds joy in getting the chance to communicate her views and perspectives and having other people engage with them. She takes pride in her work and finds it upsetting when people do not take artists seriously or believing they have chosen an easy career path.
“You just have to work hard on your ideas," she said, "and be a little creative about making the money appear."
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