Rising Stars: Meet Julia Luke

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Luke.

Hi Julia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m an artist born and raised in Los Angeles. My parents are artists who met at Pratt Institute in New York. When it came time to apply to colleges, they suggested I try The Cooper Union. Being from the West Coast, Cooper wasn’t much of a household name. When I accepted admission and was asked to explain my decision to the high school principal, all I could say was “It’s a free school!” That has changed now as it is no longer free, I guess I’m aging myself! My obsession was photography and I had imagined a future working for National Geographic. But Cooper’s traditional photography foundation program didn’t align with my interest in chance — think the decisive intuitive moments of Cartier-Bresson — so I went the painting and drawing route which allowed more freedom. My work at school was very graphic, I worked a lot with text and letter-forms. When I graduated, I moved back to LA, thinking it would be a brief stop before starting a new life as an artist in Mexico City (I was incredibly inspired by MoMA P.S.1’s 2002 exhibition, Mexico City: An Exhibition about the Exchange Rates of Bodies and Values and I hadn’t lost all my high school Spanish yet). But in a blink, I was setting up a life here in LA, there’s no place like home.

 The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but that’s boring, why do that when you could go a random quantum route? After trying to make ends meet in a variety of adventurous jobs (first a Montessori teacher for ages 3–15, then a mural restorer for employers who tried their best to get me to join the Krishnas), it was suggested to me by a friend that I was a graphic designer. This hadn’t occurred to me, although my mom had been a designer at Saul Bass & Associates, so maybe it was in the stars? I was intrigued by the idea and took some night classes at ArtCenter and an internship opened up at MOCA. I had very little experience but the amazing Creative Director at the time took a chance and the rest is history. In a funny aside, I found out after I was hired that someone in the office recognized me during the interview as “the Echo Park pool shark girl” and said even if I was a lousy designer, I should be hired for my pool-playing skills.

MOCA was my start to a now nearly 20-year career in design for arts and cultural organizations. From MOCA, I went to the Hammer Museum and then to Commune Design before starting my own studio. I have been running JL studio for eight years now and have an incredible roster of arts and culture client collaborators. My studio’s focus is branding and identity as well as publication, product, and exhibition design.

Beginning this year, I’ve returned to my roots and my studio practice, creating unique and limited-edition artworks. The first series of editions are featured here and a special thank you to Janet Klein, @janetkleinprintworks, for being an instrumental support, liaising with skilled print collaborators, and shepherding this first round of editions into the world!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Haha, well let’s see… I grew up in LA in the ‘90s, lived through the Northridge Quake and the 92’ Uprising. My senior year at Cooper started with seeing the second plane hit the World Trade Center on New York 1 News and hearing its impact in real-time outside my apartment window. Everyone reading this can share in the communal experience of surfacing out of a global pandemic. Those are only a few of the objective road challenges, I won’t divulge here the subjective ones from inside the proverbial car. Life isn’t a smooth road. It’s wavy and jagged and bumpy but sometimes —just sometimes— it’s very still. The stillness is actually always there (a hint, it’s inside the car) and sharing my art feels like I’m finally coasting— Self-driving. Every work I make is infused with that stillness, the quiet place. These works are coordinates for reflection and I hope they carry my stillness wherever they go and to whomever they co-pilot in the passenger seat. Wow, I took your metaphor really seriously!

 Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My life is my work. Everything I do from morning dream work to daily client collaborations, city walks and Runyon hikes, drawings and paintings, prints and photos to reading a book a week, studying archetypal mythology and world religions, IChing poems, studio visits (come visit!), to home-exchanging and living abroad at least one month a year— you name it, it’s my life and it’s my work. There is no separation anymore and that’s a dream come true.

 I’m really proud of this non-linear path, this unique life, even when it seemed alternately incredibly mundane or veering off-road. I love my life and work, and I try to bring that love into whatever I do and all I connect with. We all deserve this ride, no more gridlock, nothing but green lights!

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
“Aun aprendo” I am still learning, to quote master Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes. Every day I am alive on Earth is an important lesson.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.julialuke.com
• Instagram: @lukedesign
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/julialuke/
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/user/julialuxe?si=73384853b54043eb

Image Credits
All image of me in a black sweater— Courtesy Jennifer Cox