“We’re all ghosts, we all carry inside us, people who came before us.” –Liam Callanan, The Cloud Atlas.

One major subset of modernist art is known for clean lines, elementary forms and pristine surfaces. Everything indirect, inessential and, above all, historical has been stripped away. But there’s a charm to well-used old things, with their patinas, blemishes and hidden strata. Such aspects can be emulated, and even simulated. Three local artists — Cianne Fragione, Julie Wolfe and Khanh H. Le — are doing that in various ways in current shows.

The seven artists and two projects featured in Greater Reston Arts Center’s “Overlooked” may or may not be neglected, but that’s not the meaning of the show’s title. Rather, the word refers to ignored or discounted issues the artworks address. Although many of the participants begin with personal concerns, they intend “to give voice to those who may not have opportunities to speak,” according to the exhibition catalogue.

The seven artists and two projects featured in Greater Reston Arts Center’s “Overlooked” may or may not be neglected, but that’s not the meaning of the show’s title. Rather, the word refers to ignored or discounted issues the artworks address. Although many of the participants begin with personal concerns, they intend “to give voice to those who may not have opportunities to speak,” according to the exhibition catalogue.

Big data is a rapidly growing scientific research field that applies high-power computers to the understanding of complex natural phenomena. It enables scientists to study new areas in biology, the environment, and even social culture. D.C.-based artist Julie Wolfe tries to make sense of these large systems using means that are available to her – visual tools. Her process is similar to that of scientific research...

The seven artists and two projects featured in Greater Reston Arts Center’s “Overlooked” may or may not be neglected, but that’s not the meaning of the show’s title. Rather, the word refers to ignored or discounted issues the artworks address. Although many of the participants begin with personal concerns, they intend “to give voice to those who may not have opportunities to speak,” according to the exhibition catalogue.

Theoretical and actual also contend in Julie Wolfe’s sprawling “Quest for a Third Paradise,” upstairs at the same venue. Included are one of the local artist’s “Green Rooms,” an array of bottles filled with water samples dosed with extracts and chemicals. The infusions yield intense hues that Wolfe echoes in paintings, drawings and a collage that creates a color wheel from covers of books and…

Work and life co-exist in an extraordinarily beautiful symbiosis in Julie Wolfe’s Capitol Hill home and studio. A painter, installation artist and jewelry designer, Wolfe bridges that gap between fine art and tactile, wearable, interactive art in a way that clearly is rooted in her day to day life. While the official studio space is on the second floor, the whole building is filled with projects past and future, little nudges and nods towards the recurring themes in art. Much like her work, the space is a celebration of interconnectedness...

WASHINGTON, DC — In her solo exhibition at the Katzen Arts Center, artist Julie Wolfe attempts to confront a massive question: How do we find peaceful coexistence between our human systems and the natural world? Quest for a Third Paradise — which draws its name from Michelangelo Pistoletto’s concept that envisions harmony between nature and artifice — provides no firm answers. But it insists that the path to such a paradise requires an awareness of the variety of languages we have devised and can devise to organize and understand our surroundings...

Housed in some 500 glass bottles stacked on metal shelves, the water, sediment and vegetation samples on display in the window of 1700 L St. NW look like a science project. But the contents of the jars, illuminated from behind, also glow with vivid reds, purples and blues, resembling a color-field painting that has been disassembled and liquefied...

Water is the most important material for human life on earth, but humans have changed it significantly.

In her new exhibit "Green Room", Julie Wolfe applied organic and chemical processes to a range of water samples - from a creek in Washington DC to melted snow in New York City - to create a colourful and stark portrayal of what humans are doing to water and how ecosystems try to rebalance themselves...

In her cover story for T’s Oct. 25 Greats issue, the singer opened up about everything from men and childbirth to social media and proving herself...

About three years ago, Julie Wolfe started collecting water samples from across the country. She went to New York, Texas, DC, and Maryland, pouring each sample into a jar then mixing in natural ingredients, like squid ink, sandalwood, beets, and turmeric, as well as chemicals like copper sulfate, crystal violet, and methylene blue. She arranged the jars onto shelves, connected them with tubes, and lit the whole thing from behind...