Frieze Connect Member Spotlight: Julia iSABEL
Julia iSABEL is a Ukrainian-American artist whose mural-scale paintings explore transformation through enamel drips and pours on raw canvas. Her practice engages themes of identity, ecology, and embodied liberation. She is also the founder of Wallprint.us, a direct-to-wall printing service, and co-creator of Drip & Dance — a monthly studio ritual that merges movement with mark-making.
1. Describe yourself in three words
Wild. Graceful. Present.
2. What’s your proudest moment?
Burning the marriage certificate to follow the fire — leaving a secure life behind to become a full-time artist as a single mother in a foreign land. That moment marked the rebirth of both the artist and the woman I am today.
3. Art icon?
Van Gogh for his ache. Warhol for his audacity. Picasso for his shapeshifting. They all taught me that transformation is the ultimate medium.
4. Hidden gem in your city?
Bridgeport’s got an edge — all texture, no polish. My studio is in a building with many lives: Noir hums with jazz and poetry, Foolproof pours community by the pint, and MNTD Studios is where I paint — raw, loud, alive.
5. Favorite restaurant?
I like to wander — both in cities and on menus.
In New York: Peak with Priceless offers skyline elegance, Dudley’s keeps it relaxed and effortlessly cool, and Suram Sushi & Ramen satisfies my Japanese soul cravings.
In Connecticut, Westport’s Gabriel’s — always a delicious detour.
6. Song you can listen to on repeat?
Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody. A masterpiece of contradiction. Just like me.
7. Exhibition you’re excited to see (or have seen)?
Rashid Johnson at the Guggenheim. A cathedral of vulnerability. His use of material and emotion speaks to the part of me that paints with my whole body.
8. A skill you’re working on mastering?
The art of balancing creativity, entrepreneurship, motherhood, and spirituality — while staying present for all of it.
9. A memorable place?
The middle of the ocean. Just sky, water, and the sound of your own becoming.
10. Favorite museum?
DIA: Beacon. The Warhol room breathes in silence. The basement swallows you whole. Serra’s spirals compress your body until you meet your own edges.
11. Artist you’re currently thinking about?
Nancy Baker Cahill. Her work feels like a fierce spell cast in lace and steel. Beauty sharpened by intellect — a language I speak fluently.
