ARTIST STATEMENT
As a child I was aware that the sky was big and wondered if it ever ended. In my reachable, touchable world I looked at details, collected specimens and played with worms. As an adult, I worked in the Biological Sciences Department at USC and gained a basic understanding of nature’s complex systems, and through an electron microscope, saw the secret world of organisms and plants. I still look at details, collect specimens, star gaze and imagine beyond the visible. This is what fuels my art.
I am interested in how things are in nature rather than what they are. My oil paintings and ink drawings consist of layers of overlapping repetitive marks. In the drawings the marks are often inspired by some detail of nature, such as line patterns found on tree bark, the branching patterns of plants or the scales on butterfly wings. Conversely, the marks in the paintings, which I think of as particles, are more generic. They gather, disperse, migrate, school and swarm within the confines of the canvas. In both, each layer of marking changes the identity of the previous marks. During the development of each piece there is a point when inspiration falls to the background of consciousness yet still resides within its making. The drawings often come to their own conclusion as a gathered entity in space. The marks in the paintings function differently. Beginning with random marks that break up visual space, the paintings develop from a rhythm that naturally occurs from the repetitive mark making and the beat of the music I’m listening to. After multiple layers of accumulation the marks begin to coalesce into a collective identity, reuniting the space within the painting and become spatial fields.
As a child I was aware that the sky was big and wondered if it ever ended. In my reachable, touchable world I looked at details, collected specimens and played with worms. As an adult, I worked in the Biological Sciences Department at USC and gained a basic understanding of nature’s complex systems, and through an electron microscope, saw the secret world of organisms and plants. I still look at details, collect specimens, star gaze and imagine beyond the visible. This is what fuels my art.
I am interested in how things are in nature rather than what they are. My oil paintings and ink drawings consist of layers of overlapping repetitive marks. In the drawings the marks are often inspired by some detail of nature, such as line patterns found on tree bark, the branching patterns of plants or the scales on butterfly wings. Conversely, the marks in the paintings, which I think of as particles, are more generic. They gather, disperse, migrate, school and swarm within the confines of the canvas. In both, each layer of marking changes the identity of the previous marks. During the development of each piece there is a point when inspiration falls to the background of consciousness yet still resides within its making. The drawings often come to their own conclusion as a gathered entity in space. The marks in the paintings function differently. Beginning with random marks that break up visual space, the paintings develop from a rhythm that naturally occurs from the repetitive mark making and the beat of the music I’m listening to. After multiple layers of accumulation the marks begin to coalesce into a collective identity, reuniting the space within the painting and become spatial fields.
BIO
Joanne received her BFA from the University of Washington. In Seattle her work was shown at Francine Seders Gallery in both solo and group shows. She was also an invited participant in group shows at Soil Art Gallery (Seattle), Gage Academy of Art (Seattle), Kirkland Arts Center (Kirkland, WA), Skagit Valley College (Mt. Vernon, WA), and had a solo show at Pierce College Fine Arts Gallery (Lakewood, WA). In 2010 she was nominated for and awarded a month long artist residency by the Jentel Arts Foundation in Banner, Wyoming. Her work is in public and private collections in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Texas. She currently lives and works in Dripping Springs, Texas.