harmakon Gallery presents the first solo-show of Iulia Bucureșteanu titled “Totul va fi bine”, where she exhibits a new body of work revolving around identity, domesticity and the complex process of migration. The title, translated as “Everything will be alright”, is based on one of the works from the show, developed in her recent travels in her home town, Bucharest. For this presenta- tion, Iulia wishes to unravel her relation to the idea of home, as well as exploring her position as a guest in her own country. Iulia’s installation is composed of aluminium-cast sculptures, a spotify playlist and analog photographs from her personal archive, which intertwine both reality and fiction. “Totul va fi bine” brings together core elements of her practice which define the search for clarity in the ambigous process of migration.

In this project, she used her travels to Bucharest, as ways of discovering and uncovering the unseen layers of the self. Her name, “Bucureșteanu”, which means “a citizen of Bucharest” seems to hold a spiritual purpose for her artistic endeavours, where she detach- es herself from “the citizen”, embodying “the stranger” or “the tourist”. Her use of the harsh and domestic-related technique of aluminum casting stands as a testament to the gender-bending attitude towards art making. She formulates new perspectives, by camouflaging her personal experiences in the shiny, metallic material which allows her narratives to detach from her identity. She merges these sculptures with various forms of archival elements echoing sensitive and intimate stories, that are beyond earthly or subjective experiences.

Iulia Bucureșteanu is a multidisciplinary artist who explores and disects her relation to the notion of home through personal and self-refferential reflections on memory, entropy and the dynamics of the household. Her practice, rooted in womanhood and identity, is defined by a surgical introspection into her past experiences, by the use of aluminium casting, analog photography and installation. From seemingly banal everyday objects such as a boot, an i-pod or a razor to photographs taken in her trips, these elements come together in emotionally charged narratives where gender roles, estrangement and tourism are contemplated. She graduated a BA in Fine Arts at Kabk(The Hague) and is now following the MA programme at Ecal (Lausanne). Her work was exhibited at Ron Mandos Gallery, Creative Week Romania (curated by Marian Palie) and Object Rotterdam.