"Motherhood has changed everything, especially how I create. My time is more limited, but that's made me more focused, more present, and more intentional with my work. There's no space for overthinking or procrastination, just short windows of clarity where I go deep." - Jule Waibel
I'm a creator through and through. I work across painting, design, furniture, fashion, installation, and more. Whether I'm making clothes for my baby, hosting a dinner party, or designing a piece of furniture, creativity is at the heart of everything I do.
My work celebrates empowered women - strong, sensual, independent figures. I always paint women. In fact, men rarely appear on my canvases, and if they do, their faces are hidden. The focus is always the woman. I love romanticizing the everyday and telling intimate, introspective stories through her perspective.
I live a global studio life rooted in New York with my little family and creatively connected to both Bali and Berlin. I thrive on change - new surroundings, new inspiration. I've never lived in one place for more than five years (besides my hometown) and this constant movement keeps my work fresh and evolving. I try to return to my Bali studio each year for a few months - it's my tropical reset.
Jule Waibel, Sojourn (2025)
Can you give us some more insight into your personal narrative and how this intersects with your work?
I grew up in Germany and studied industrial design in the south, then went on to earn my Master's in Product Design at the Royal College of Art in London. That's where I discovered the beauty of design where function didn't always have to come first. This idea became the seed for my Unfolded Universe-a sculptural, pleated world that started with objects and installations. I had always painted casually and exhibited in Berlin from time to time but when the pandemic hit and I was unexpectedly grounded in Bali, without my folding tools, I turned fully to painting. It became just as important to me as my folded work. After meeting my husband in Bali, I moved to New York and began focusing solely on fine art to explore that side of my creativity in depth.
How has becoming a new mother influenced your practice? Is there anything unexpected
creatively that has come along with this?
Motherhood has changed everything, especially how I create. My time is more limited, but that's made me more focused, more present, and more intentional with my work. There's no space for overthinking or procrastination, just short windows of clarity where I go deep. It's made me both softer and stronger. I feel everything more intensely now - love, exhaustion, joy, frustration, tenderness-and it all shows up in my work.
My recent show, Second Heart, was born from this. It captured the transformation of becoming a mother: the fatigue, the love, the resilience, and the magic of carrying another life. Motherhood gave my creativity a new shape and a new rhythm.
Jule Waibel in the studio
Can you tell us more about your connection to Bali? How do your vastly differing environments (NYC v. Bali) influence and inform your practice?
Bali brings wild nature, tropical light, and a sense of calm. I paint lots of green, lush leaves, open skin, and soft, earthy forms. The canvases are bigger there too - the studios are more spacious and clients often want large-scale work for their villas. New York, by contrast, is full of energy and stories. Rooftops, apartments, street scenes, city girls, and interior objects. My NYC work is more urban, more detailed, sometimes more playful. Together, both places give me balance - organic nature on one side, structured city life on the other.
Within your practice - there is a reference to being the "creator of the Unfolded Universe." What does that mean to you? Can you expand on this a bit more for those who are unfamiliar?
It began as my master's project at RCA based on minimum and maximum spaces - using folding to compress and expand. Through hand-pleating and material experimentation, I create dresses that expand and contract, vases that stretch with form, rugs that ripple, and much more across interior design and fashion. I fold everything: paper, felt, silk, leather, cork, acrylic, glass, even wood and make them into objects. It's a celebration of geometry and movement and has grown into a dynamic, playful language.
How has your studies in industrial design influenced your artistic process?
You can see my design roots throughout my fine art. There's often an architectural sensibility in the way I lay out a canvas.I studied at German design schools with strong Bauhaus roots and later at RCA in London where I was encouraged to explore form purely for its beauty, which is how my Unfolded Universe began. It was still design but moving closer to art. Eventually, I stepped fully into the fine art space. My folded work is three dimensional and complex-based on structure, repetition, geometry, and material exploration. Painting is 2D, more fluid, more emotional. Both worlds challenge and fulfill me in different ways.
What are you listening to in the studio these days?
I love classic disco, the NTS/Poolside radio station, and a mix of podcasts-some political, some lifestyle. I like to feed my brain while I paint - learning, reflecting, staying inspired.
Any upcoming projects you can tell us more about?
I'm currently working on a new show and I regularly release prints and editions while continuing to create oil paintings for collectors and galleries. I also love developing unique pieces for my online shop, including artwear (clothing printed with my paintings), painted jackets, folded bags, tote bags, and other handmade objects. In addition, I'm working on a new ceramic collection and will soon introduce more folded sculptural pieces. And of course, I love hosting studio events.
Jule Waibel, The Secret Of (2025)
Learn more about Jule Waibel and her avaiable works through the link here.
