UNT Special Collections 2024 Research Fellowship Awardee

Julia Caswell

Project Title

Mistake-Out: Art from Researching the Liquid Paper Legacy

Project Description

Julia Caswell Freund will research the Liquid Paper Corporation’s Archive, focusing on gendered clerical work. Through an artist talk and series of conceptual works, she seeks to uncover insights about cultural value and labor systems in businesses of 1980s Dallas, paying tribute to the longstanding artistic legacy of Liquid Paper’s founder, Bette Graham.

Biography

Julia Caswell is an artist living and working in DFW. JCF’s art researches the nuances of cultural value systems through performance, video, and sculptural art making. Her work, influenced by her experiences as a neurodivergent individual, blends advertising aesthetics with mental health themes and early childhood testing and learning environments. She explores societal messages on happiness and self-perception, the invisibility of labor, and diversity of knowledge systems, creating immersive installations that engage both the body and cognition. Currently pursuing her MFA at the University of North Texas, Julia’s art invites viewers to question and reflect on human perception and societal narratives in a contemporary attention economy. Visit www.juliacaswell.com to see images of her work and more.