Julia Pappas

Julia Pappas, an American artist, specializes in figurative and urban oil paintings. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with High Honors from Michigan State University, and presently lives and works in Dallas, Texas as a Fine Art painter. Julia’s work can be seen on display in galleries and in public and private collections, both nationally and internationally. She is available for commercial and residential commissioned work.

Influenced by Modernist artists, Julia’s paintings feature an expressive use of thick brushstrokes and striking colours. She playfully uses additive and subtractive methods throughout the painting process, provoking one’s mind to inquire where the foreground starts and the background ends.  The surface becomes a field of splendid colour, overflowing with the liberating satisfaction of creating in an Expressionist style.

Julia’s current body of work, much of it focused on the urban environment, was inspired by a move to downtown Dallas, Texas.  With this shift, Julia became enthralled by what surrounded her in this new urban context: dramatic skyline views, as well as people immersed in their daily routine and leisure experiences.  Rhythmically utilizing loose yet accurate brushwork, she translates these unusually usual scenes with bold, energetic, and painterly power on her canvases.  By brushing, scraping, layering, the literal is transformed with vibrancy and newness seen only through her eyes - and gifted to the viewer.  She has become a documenter of modern life in and around the city.

Through her reflection paintings, specifically “Proud City”, Julia communicates the inseparable relationship between figures and their geographical location. Her language of brush and colour connects with the viewer, regardless of where they have lived or loved.