Working fluidly across media and materials, Julieann Worrall Hood’s gestural work draws on her training in tapestry to weave together nuanced narrative strands through sculpture, drawing, textiles, and soundscape. Lyrical explorations of change, vulnerability, and experiences of motherhood emerge in the act of noticing the metamorphosis of the sky or the emotions buried in a complex relationship. Her practice looks to capture fleeting moments, from incising words left unsaid into a small concrete block like a worry stone, to notating the cycles and migratory patterns of natural phenomena.
- Anna Souter (2025)
Much of my work revolves around hiraeth, an intense longing for a particular sense of home. I find glimpses and whispers of this longing in the elemental and ephemeral rhythms, patterns, and sounds of nature, making connections between migration, memory, and place.
During secondary school, I would always rush to the front seat at the top of the double-decker bus to watch the changing cloudscapes and see the world from a bird's-eye view. As an art student in Edinburgh, I created scribbly sketches of the dramatic winter sunsets from Greyfriars Bridge and of the stormy waters, winds, and skies from Portobello Beach—on the edges of things.
I am curious about the elasticity of time and the plurality of memory as I gather sensory experiences. Quickly captured plein air drawings become graphic scores for layered soundscapes, the basis for time-intensive, eccentrically woven tapestries, or are transformed into sculpted tokens made from cow parsley, concrete, scrawled words, and butterfly wings—these are my pocket poems. Whether drawing by moonlight, collaborating with poets, performers, and scientists, or engaging in socially focused projects, I am eccentrically weaving together multi-sensory experiences.
Sharing creativity as a social activity that can enhance people's lives has always been a fundamental part of my practice. I am passionate about the way interactive, multi-sensory experiences can break down traditional barriers and foster intuitive, improvisational responses. This approach opens up new possibilities for building confidence and curiosity.
Based in Wiltshire, England, and the Llyn Peninsula, Wales, Julieann Worrall Hood studied Fine Art in Edinburgh and Bath. Artist-in- Residence at V&A London, Luton Museum and to the counties of Wiltshire, Somerset (UK) and Santarem (Portugal), commissions include Denver Museum of Childhood (USA), Chanel, Conran and Coldplay. Her work features in Creating Spaces: The History of the Bath Schools of Art & Design.
Public commissions include sculptures in St. Peter’s Place Salisbury, The National Forest (Leicestershire), Cotswold Wildlife Park (Gloucestershire), in Basingstoke, Stratford on Avon and for Denver Museum of Childhood (USA), with sculptural installations for Conran and Chanel in London, Manchester and Dublin.
Julieann often works in partnership with her husband, gardener and poet Nick Hood. Projects include the acclaimed ‘Flowery Meads’ installation in the grounds of the beautiful Watermill Theatre, Newbury and a series of living sculptures for Conkers, the National Forest visitor centre in Leicestershire.
Cross disciplinary collaborations with Kneehigh Theatre Company and the Watermill Theatre have led to numerous indoor and outdoor installations, events, objects, and costumes for performance. She continues to explore shaping sound through the language of sculpture: creating evolving installations in Bath and pieces for Coldplay for international performances in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
As an artist educator, Worrall Hood has devised and led projects in schools, museums, galleries and communities, nationally and internationally. She has held the positions of Head of Education at Roche Court Educational Trust (New Art Centre, Wiltshire) and Contemporary Arts Practice lecturer and subject leader at Bath Spa University, plus many artist-in-residence posts including in Kerala (India), Santarem (Portugal) and at the V&A (London). She has given numerous talks on her work and creative engagement, including at the Natural History Museum, London for Insect Odyssey, Berlinische Galerie (Berlin) for the British Council, at the the V&A for the International Museums Education Conference, at the Victoria Art Gallery (Bath), the Crafts Council, NSEAD National Conference and online for The Being Human Festival. In December 2022, as a member of the Multisensory Art Project Team, she received the national Marsh Award for Excellence in Visual Arts Engagement.
Her work is held in public and private collections and features in Graham McLaren’s publication Creating Spaces: The History of the Bath Schools of Art & Design (Wunderkammer Press, 2020), Shadowlands ( Drawing Correspondence, 2024) and Brink (Shadowlands II, 2025).
