JULU

Following in the footsteps of her mother, who graduated from the first class at the Savannah College of Art and Design,Juliana Lupacchino received a B.F.A. in Fibers from SCAD in2017. She is now forging her own path with profound strides as an emerging local painter and muralist in Savannah.

Juliana exudes a wide-eyed joy which emanates from the colors and patterns she is creating in her murals. What is so special about her work is that she never expected to be a painter and muralist, but developed her aesthetic through athirst to remain creative after graduating.

“As a fibers major, I was always studying fun materials, weaving ,knitting, sewing, and doing pattern development,” Juliana says. “It feels like this happy magical world of textiles and color and pattern is almost too good to be true.”

The transference of that magical world is evident in her body of work she refers to as Julu. With an artistic passion for doodling and sketching thats he had all through college—along with lack of access to the equipment she was accustomed to working with in her major—she turned to making artwork with the materials she did have access to—her own two hands. With her finger, a rag, and enamel house paint, she developed a tactile process of her own, using her knowledge of color theory and composition. The result is vibrant paintings that exude tremendous energy through unique shapes and textural patterns she finger paints on a large scale.

In the past year, Juliana has been commissioned to create murals for SCAD,Emily McCarthy, an organic food kitchen, a retro trailer, and an exhibit in the Savannah coffee house Gallery Espresso, where a collection of her work and murals were on display in January.“Julu has been such a whim in the best way possible,” she says, “where it’s been coming up with fun ideas and not being afraid to go for it.”

This philosophy has allowed her to focus on her work as a full-time artist.

With her whimsical love for color theory and talent for large-scale installations, Juliana continues to dream bigger. While painting a backdrop and listening to the La La Land soundtrack, which was set in California, she was inspired to create a backdrop to hang in Joshua Tree, which she did.

“I love seeing art in a randoms pace and being thrown off by it, on a wall or just sitting somewhere,”she says.

Her advice for other emerging is to stick with doing something creative every day.

“I knew after graduating I wanted to breathe and figure out whatI loved, which is color and pattern, and if you really love what you’re doing, people will really love it too,” she says.