Urban Aspects: Newtown ... a brief glimpse into an aspect of the human condition...

An exhibition of clay and bronze sculptures sourced from observations and drawing in the streets of Newtown. The characters, the pets, the facades that is the extraordinary mix that is living in Newtown.

This exhibition has provided a wonderful opportunity for me as an artist, to explore and study the Newtown area through the medium of sculpture.
I am mainly a figurative artist; however, I´ve always incorporated backgrounds such as landscapes, townscapes and interiors to help create appropriate moods. Nonetheless it was a real challenge to create architectural sculptures. I am fascinated by Victorian and Federation architecture in the Newtown area.
Some of my architectural sculptures are quirky, almost dreamlike and surreal, and have narrative to them, for example, the sculpture called "After Munch´s the Scream" which was based on a Victorian house.
Other sculptures are figurative, depicting a range of Newtown identities, from the bizarrely eccentric to the urban fashionista.

Since graduating from College of Fine Arts (University of NSW) with a Master of Art Degree (1994), Julie Ashcroft has exhibited regularly and she has been a finalist in the Blake Prize and the Freemantle Print Prize, plus winning several awards for sculpture and drawing. In 2004, she was awarded First Prize for Miniature Sculpture at the Royal Easter Show.