In this watery world of somnambulist pleasure-seeking, the unconscious is liberated from its earthly moorings. Juli Haas has given the characters within her new series of dark vignettes passage to sail the oceans of fantasy, to escape the familiarity of the everyday in order to act out their deeper impulses. Like ships encased within bottles, the boats in this series represent a compulsive tendency to allegorise our experiences from within the private cocoon of our dreams.

Juli Haas has long been interested in the complex aspects of lived experiences – from the wrenching lessons of childhood to the inevitable emergence of old age. Out of the potential turmoil of life's lessons Juli's images offer an exuberance and optimism bound in the process of discovering one's self awareness.

While Juli holds her personal observations central to her creative processes her works are not intentionally autobiographical but aim to highlight the shared archetypal lexis persistent throughout all cultures and times.

Artist statement:
"I find these images very much like the act of making artwork really. You have to wrap yourself up in your own world, to become consumed by what is happening around you. It's a very personal process and one that's ultimately about seeking pleasure. The boats are a vessel for the self; They can be still or rock on choppy seas. In this series the waters are mostly gentle, evolving into fantasy seas of paisley and a clutter of domestic objects."  

With a career that has seen her shown in over 100 countries; from Rio de Janeiro to the Barbican Centre London. Haas has been awarded the Sir John Sulman Prize, the Silk Cut Award, the Shell Art Prize and the Hawaii State Foundation, Art in Public Places, Acquisitive Award. Her highly distinctive & rich imagery is in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of NSW, numerous regional galleries, and private and corporate collections throughout the world.