About the Artist
Julie Cornett is a printmaker whose hand-carved linocuts blend magical realism aesthetics with vivid psychedelic elements. Working since 2008, her work is deeply rooted in the high desert and Eastern Sierra, where she lives and draws inspiration. Julie’s prints reflect a metaphysical connection to landforms; mountains, rocks, and desert creatures become symbols of both grounding and transcendence. Through bold colors, whimsical juxtapositions, and stylized natural forms, she explores the spiritual and surreal qualities of the Western landscape. The result is a body of work that feels at once timeless and trippy, earthy and electric.
Julie has studied printmaking through college coursework and virtual workshops; however, she is largely self-taught, developing her practice through years of experimentation and a deepening relationship with the California desert.
Julie’s work has been exhibited at local art shows and museums, and is collected by individuals drawn to her distinct vision of desert mysticism. She currently works out of her studio in Ridgecrest, California, continuing to explore themes of solitude, transformation, and sacred geography through printmaking.
Linocut is a type of print made from a sheet of linoleum into which a design has been cut in relief. Julie primarily uses the reduction printing technique, beginning with a design and carving out more and more elements of the original design as she prints. She uses traditional hand-print methods to achieve texture but also experiments with a Woodzilla press. Her earlier works are printed using Speedball inks and she currently uses Cranfield inks for their richer saturation.
Artists’ Statement
My art practice celebrates the stark landscapes and creatures of the Eastern Sierra and Indian Wells Valley, where I was born and raised. The impressions achieved with linocut printing, along with the sharp color contrasts I use, capture the severity of these landscapes. My designs attempt to illustrate the mystical connection I have with the area.
Creativity is often serendipitous and fleeting and I’ve found that the reduction linocut technique captures this transitory nature; cut by cut, the original image is destroyed as it is carved out for the printing stages, resulting in one-of-a-kind, limited series that can’t be replicated.
