Julija Goyd (b. 1979 in Vilnius, Lithuania) lives and works in Berlin. After years working in finance management, she decided to make a brave twist in her career changing working field. The creative industries attracted her attention aiming to exercise her creative talents through a wide range of mediums. Goyd explains that “I began my journey with education in economics and work in the field of financial management. After a few years of professional work in finance, I gravitated to a new world of acting, advertising and fashion design. Since 2010 I began using photography and video as a medium for my work”
Either with colorful or abstract monochromatic images, Goyd’s projects illustrate her concerns related to performance, space or movement of the human body as well as the perceptual experience. Goyd also aims to explore sexuality and the various forms of eroticism in the human nature through her camera lenses. With faces covered and human silhouettes stripped bare, Goyd goes beyond the usual functionality of the human body re-introducing it as a new form of art.
Can you tell us about the process of making your work? What inspires you?
The source of inspiration can vary from project to project, but in most of the cases it is the book, which I read, sometimes the person I met, or the subject we spoke about.
How would you define your work in few words?
I am interested in the processes of transformations- my subjects are eroticism and nature.
Do you have a favourite book, film or painting which inspires you?
The book, which shaped many ideas and interests, is “Eroticism- Death and Sensuality” by Georges Battaile. And the movie, which I saw lately and which left an enormous impression on me, is “Od Horses and Men” by Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson.
Do you have any favorite artists?
Since already a long time I have been fascinated by work of Laurie Anderson and James Turrell. There are many artists-photographers, the work of whom I keep following-it’s Jeff Wall, Stephen Shore, Gregory Crewdson and Rayan McGinley. I feel greatly inspired by Japanese photography- each time when I come across one or another body of work, I feel touched by the ability of artists to keep focus on details, which can, in some cases, lead to transcendent experience while observing each image.
What are your plans for your near future?
I would like to keep a focus on producing more video works.
An interesting video work you were involved in is Decadentia, what was about?
I was invited by a curator (today the cultural attaché of Lithuania in London) Juste Kostikovaite to make a video about my work for internet platform The Deep Splash. I decided to create a video, which stands for itself as an artwork, while telling a rather personal story about the development of my work. The video was commissioned and supported my Ministry of Culture of Lithuania.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLiv8g_gW7Q/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BK2kbA2hN2f/