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Green Pebble Magazine
Articles
Julia
Cake: Stunning Sculptures
Green Pebble Spring 2008 issue
With her stone sculpture, Performance, now on display in the foyer of the newly-refurbished Norwich Theatre Royal in Norfolk, Monaco-born sculptress Julia Cake has taken the first step in launching her career in the UK.
Her Norfolk
home is surrounded by blocks of stone waiting to be transformed into the tactile
forms for which she is known overseas, and clouds of dust can be seen billowing
from her studios from early morning to late evening.
What is less apparent when meeting this soft-spoken woman, is the gritty determination
that preceded her arrival on English shores.
As a child of 16 living a charmed life in Monaco, the then-Julia Levy was
introduced to sculpture – and the art of stone carving that was to become
her passion – when she enrolled in the Beaux Art Academy in France.
Her proximity to Italy allowed her to drive to the quarries across the border
and load her long-suffering Mini with free marble discards; pieces she would
patiently observe until their meaning and hidden forms became apparent to
her. Then, armed with chisels, grinders and sanders, she would create organically-shaped
marble sculptures for which she became known in Monaco, Cannes, Paris and
Nice.
The successes which followed were considerable. In October 1990 she won bronze
at the 77th Salons des Beaux-Arts de Cannes; in 1991 she won silver at the
same event. That year she was also invited to exhibit in ‘Art Mystic’
at the Palais des Festival de Cannes.
During the next six years her work was on exhibition up and down the length
of the French Riviera, from the fashionable shopping street of La Croisette
in Cannes to plush Riviera hotels such as Le Carlton and Hotel Eze. However,
by the time she reached the age of 21, Julia’s parents were not impressed
by this artistic progress and wanted her to complete her formal education.
A compromise was found and reluctantly she enrolled at the Florida International
University in Miami to study marketing. She stopped sculpting and fulfilled
her parents wishes.
Three years later the idea of entering the family business was more than she
could stand and she refused to come home. Her parents responded by stopping
all further financial support and told her she was on her own.
At US$12 per kilo, sculpting in stone is an expensive occupation and one Julia
had no time to pursue as she struggled to build a life for herself in Miami.
It wasn’t until several years later, when she met and married Englishman
Robbie Cake, that she enjoyed sufficient security and support to return to
sculpting.
Remembering those early days of their marriage, Robbie says, ‘You could
see it in her. It was so obvious. All I wanted when I first met Julia was
to see her happy, sculpting. You could see it was locked up… it was
dying to break-out ...'
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