Juliet Aaltonen

An Accumulation of Small Moments - Our Mothers, Grandmothers, Gardens - 2021
Collaborative textile & print work made with A.B

Juliet Aaltonen (b. London, UK) is a visual artist.

Juliet’s practice looks to challenge the gendered constructs of ‘fine art’ and ‘craft’ categorisation. Juliet is interested in the idea that a single object has the potential to connect us with others, and to generate multiple instances of meaning as it is passed from owner to owner, throughout its existence. Imprints in her textile works mimic natural processes of age and decay, resulting in surfaces resembling expansive membranes that capture substances and material from a moment in the circular passage of time.

Juliet's work has been exhibited in the UK, USA, the Netherlands, Serbia, and China, and she is a recipient of the Leverhulme Arts Scholarship award (2022 - 2023).

Upcoming and current shows

Exhibition (WT), and participation in ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Eyecandies Gallery, Shanghai, China (July - November 2023)
Linger in Silence, Willesden Gallery / M P Birla Millennium Gallery, London, United Kingdom, curated by Ran Zhu, Blair Luo, Lan Ying (July - September 2023)
Connecting the Future, Josilda da Conceição Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands (July - August 2023)
The Path of Excess, Stokey Popup Space, London, United Kingdom (September 2023)

Past shows

Connecting the Future, The Dots Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia (February - May 2023)
Moving Through, Safe-house Peckham, London, United Kingdom (March - April 2023)
The Headless Way, 29 Marylebone Lane, London (April 2023)
Third Floor, Royal College of Art, Woo Building, London, United Kingdom (February 2023)
Sensorial Historiography, Laurel Project Space, Amsterdam, Netherlands (September 2021)
Summer Work, Bologna.cc, Amsterdam, Netherlands (August 2021)
Yes, Again!, Patty Morgan Showroom, Amsterdam, Netherlands (December 2020 - January 2021)
Separation, Alignment, Cohesion, Laurel Project Space, Amsterdam, Netherlands (July 2020)
Facade Exhibition, Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands (April 2020)
Baking Normal, Laurel Project Space, Amsterdam, Netherlands (January 2020)
Ornamental Rest, Laurel Project Space (October 2019)
Pruning, Laurel Project Space, Amsterdam, Netherlands (July 2019)
ADORN Open House, Amsterdam, Netherlands (May 2019)

Awards

Leverhulme Arts Scholarship 2022 (Royal College of Art)

Collections

Vladimir Gogoljev, Belgrade, Serbia - Amsterdam, Netherlands (Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Serbia in the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Valentina Salmeri-Bijzet, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Féminin Pluriel, Rijksmuseum Fund)

Vessel (communing) - 2023
Thread, lithographic ink, rust and tarlatan

My interest lies in re-imagining the histories of objects and materials and their recognisability between the organic and the human-made. My work is defined in relation to identity, upbringing, and personal experiences within our society and its constructs.

I observe fragmentation and its manifestation in nature, symbols, and embroidery patterns, and explore physical repair as a vehicle for processing memory, and uniting the self. My works stem from memories of childhood, place, superstition or folklore, and emerge through collecting keepsakes, and repeatedly printing their raw surfaces.

I utilise visual tools that deal explicitly with narratives from personal or location-based memory - providing a commentary on our daily landscape, often through unexpected means of articulation. Conversations, found or inherited items, and collaborative making serve as an entry point into locating my practice within artistic and cultural traditions. I explore personal and societal constructions of value. Experiences, sensory maps and stories are braided together into a thread that is constantly being reworked and meant to allow for both denial and recollection.