About

Julia Stockwell-Hamid is a British artist and silversmith whose work is shaped by an international perspective. She has spent much of her career travelling and living abroad, particularly in Sudan and Tanzania, where she also taught art at the French School in Dar es Salaam. These experiences continue to inform her creative practice, bringing a broad cultural awareness and deep appreciation of material traditions to her work.
A nominee for Surrey Artist of the Year 2024, Julia has exhibited widely, including at the East Africa Art Biennale. Her work is held in private collections internationally, from the United States and Europe to China and Australia.
Her artistic journey began as a professional dancer working in film and television, where movement, rhythm and performance shaped the way she observed and interpreted the world. That sensitivity to movement continues to underpin her visual language, with fluidity and gesture remaining central to her paintings and sculptural work.
Julia first became known for her oil paintings of Sudanese water vessels, using the pot as a metaphor for family, memory, connection and resilience. Her practice has since evolved into large-scale acrylic paintings inspired by the movement and symbolism of water, incorporating sterling silver and her own hallmark as both a signature and an integral part of each work. Drawing on her parallel career as a silversmith, she brings together painting and precious metal to create richly textured works that blur the boundaries between the two disciplines.

More recently, her practice has become increasingly rooted in the Surrey landscape she now calls home. Working with locally gathered grasses, nettles and other native plant materials, she creates cordage, woven forms and coiled structures that reflect the rhythms and interconnectedness of the natural world. This growing dialogue between fine art, craft and the landscape has opened new directions in her work, while remaining connected to the enduring themes of water, place and belonging that have long defined her practice.
Julia's work continues to evolve through curiosity, experimentation and a willingness to cross traditional boundaries between painting, sculpture and making. This distinctive approach has earned recognition both locally and internationally, establishing her as an artist with a thoughtful and individual voice.