The Council Consults: Juls, A Home Away from Home Playlist

If you haven’t seen her markings on the walls back at HQ, you probably would have seen them on a bigger scale (we’re talking murals) elsewhere such as at Gallery & Co., Zouk & Camp Kilo x Commoner Creatures Art Club. Born-and-bred Singaporean artist and self-professed ‘mark-maker’ Juls takes the spotlight for this week’s edition of The Council Consults.

For the past three months, Juls was holed up in Taiwan, where she had been working on her largest mural to date. Titled “Eh Vlly ’n The Uunevrs”, the mural features her signature "semi-automatic" drawing style, marked by repetitive strokes which create patterns that might seem like recognisable letters and numbers, but are in fact wonderful gibberish. Each stroke is hand-drawn using a paint-marker, creating mapping a fictional labyrinth, something that is a recurring theme in her art. Juls spent a total of 143 hours spanning over 31 days to create the masterpiece that currently stands at 駁二藝術特區 The Pier-2 Art Center, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

"The markings are intentionally abstract, and their patterns form organic shapes resembling mountains surrounding a valley—a very apparent place," she explains, "For the artist, it is about the process—the act of drawing to discover, through the different stages of mental and physical challenges of the dull action of repetitive marking. Through my works I intend to promulgate the multiplicity of abstract conception as I crave for the beauty of ambiguity and awe of decipherment. This is a valley in this Universe, but where…"

During her artist residency in Taiwan, she would reminisce over her weekly romps on the dancefloor, leading her to seek out new music through her Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify; in this playlist, Juls shares her top tracks that kept her company while working on the mural.

Some tracks are reminiscent of the shenanigans with her crew back in Singapore; others are more easy-listening and catchier, keeping her singing along through the repetitive marking of walls. She highlights “Sleep Talk” by Einmusik, saying "This track stands out as I shared it with someone important to me when we were in Taipei; this memory linked to this track has a special meaning now."

Always looking for a new challenge, Juls is open to possible collaborations in any discipline of Art and Design, and hopes to be able to leave her mark on more walls here in Singapore.

Check out Juls' website for more of her artwork here.