Meet Julia Jabur | Visual artist and illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Julia Jabur and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julia, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I believe that taking risks is essential for creative growth in any profession! When we create something new, we feel fear and butterflies in the stomach, and for me, that’s the feeling of giving life to the unknown.

In my professional career, held entirely in São Paulo – Brazil, I decided that I would work as an artist 4 years after I graduated and worked as an architect. It was a time of great change, where I began to feel directly responsible for what I produced and also where I felt I needed to build a new way of working. This new journey was and still is full of risks chosen little by little by me. I prefer to say that I am (and I always will be) in a place that I don’t really know how to define, and that’s why it’s exciting. I think it’s important to mention that I had a lot of support to make this move, which I know is a great privilege. Few people where I live and in other developing countries have the resources to take professional risks, while so many live only struggling to overcome the risks linked to survival.

Within the creative process of drawing, I always try to create possibilities through a kind of game that induces me to places where I am not used to. This is one way to make the process more attractive by risking mistakes. There are many ways of thinking about drawing and painting and if we can play with your tools, such as their various materials and midias, stimulus that can come from a photographic image, a text, a shape, color or texture, we can be surprised by the results achieved.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Since 2018 I work as a visual artist and illustrator in São Paulo, Brazil. I realize that throughout my life, I have always had the desire to express myself through art and this has led me to be curious and go after courses, people and places that could teach me about how to create things with my hands.

Today I see drawing as a catalyst capable of generating new ideas, not only in the visual arts but also in many other creative areas, playing roles such as designing, shaping surfaces, or even illustrating a text. I believe that drawing is a way of synthesizing and communicating the world, as well as a research tool capable of creating new realities. Often, in my drawings, the hands are present, as if to remind me that they are the ones that move me and are able to generate new discoveries.

I like to insert political, social, educational, philosophical and scientific discussions in my work, and I have always been involved in causes looking for ways I can contribute in other areas with my work.

When I do a job, I try to get involved and commit myself entirely to it, I believe that devoting time to the construction of something is essential and often can only be seen in the final result or in production in general. In this path, which can often feel tense and lonely, I try to remember that it is important that at some point I can also have fun, just as It was when I discovered drawing in my childhood.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The first place I’d take him would be at SESC Pompeia. The Social Service of Commerce (SESC) is an institution, which operates throughout Brazil, focused on the social well-being of employees of commerce and their family members, but open to the community in general. The Pompeia unit was designed by the architect Lina Bo Bardi, whom I admire very much. The architectural work is part of the rehabilitation of a historically industrial area of the city. It is a place full of meanings for São Paulo and also for me, who attended since childhood this place, playing, doing courses, watching shows, exhibitions, events and making delicious meals. It is a place full of life and events, which greatly reflects Lina’s intentions, and which is capable of generating a lot of inspiration.

Here we also have many options of restaurants, a diverse and global gastronomy. One of the most i like is A Baianeira, which mixes a cuisine of two regions of Brazil: Minas Gerais and Bahia. The dishes are well served, tasty and colorful, and served in a simple yet sophisticated way – a great experience within the national cuisine.

There are other tours which I deeply enjoy: São Paulo is very extensive and so full of events. A great way to discover the city is riding a bicycle! The city has public bikes for rental and a great cyclepath network. I think this means of transportation makes the city more accessible, humane and fun.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Along my way I was accompanied by many people who inspired me a lot and somehow helped me move on. My mother, Maria Inês, no doubt was the first of them, always inspired me as a woman and as a professional and from an early age communicated with me through the drawing, which she did and still does beautifully. My father, Cláudio, and my brothers, Ivan and Laura, are people who have always been by my side and give me strength so that I do not forget my own strength. I am fortunate to have a companion of years, Daniel, who has an innate curiosity, who is always reminding me about the simplicity of things and helps me get out of times of crisis and inertia.

I also shoutout to my friends. They have a very important role of professional and personal support network. My friend Kareen Sayuri is a great partner and an admirable art director. Patricia Sayuri is a visual artist with whom I share a lot of art matters, her research and her trajectory are very beautiful. Danielle Noronha was my master teacher in painting and is my studio companion. Tatiana Kahvegian is an artist and set designer, without whom I would not be here writing, and who lived beside me a great moment of change. And besides those, I have a lot of others to thank, it’s a huge list.

In general I would also like to shoutout to all the women in my country and also from the world who have paved the way for me to be in this place where I am today. I hope I can shoutout on behalf of those who will come after me!

Website: https://www.juliajabur.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julia.jabur/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-jabur-zemella-87111789/

Image Credits
image 1, 2 and 3 – my workplace and annotations notebooks image 04 – Painting “Depht” – dimensions: 48 x 60 cm – May 2020 – Author: Julia Jabur image 05 – Illustration for Panela Coletiva Calendar image 06 – Illustration for Serrapilheira Institute – Article “The mysterous gastronomy of the brain” – Full article: https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/blogs/ciencia-fundamental/2022/04/agastronomia-misteriosa-do-cerebro.shtml image 07 – Illustration for Claudia Magazine – Article “Love without strings: meet non-monogamy” – Full article: https://claudia.abril.com.br/amor-e-sexo/amor-monogamia/