Artist's Statement
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I work from the inner world and practice a form of automatism, which unleashes a creative flow. From that flow come symbols created with acrylic, gouache, and mixed media. I explore these symbols with the intention of finding deeper meaning in them. These forms take on metaphorical importance as they enter my work.
I am interested in the bond between life experience and art, and in how life events can become catalysts that awaken the inner voice. My artwork brings hidden experience into the daylight, where it can be explored in the conscious realm.
Resume
View or Download Joell’s 2022 artist resume
History
My art career is anchored in early childhood. Mother was classically trained as an artist and was very supportive. My father, a born naturalist, connected me to the pure spirit of the natural world. As a child, I played in the wild woods of south and central Louisiana.
In college, I continued to focus on art and began to study philosophy… Looking for deeper meaning was enlivening… Later came a masters degree in psychology after moving to the Bay Area. The inner world was ripe for exploration and my art study continued…
So my foundations were set in the trifecta of art, philosophy and psychology, and through the years I found art teachers who supported the path that led toward greater freedom of expression… I eventually developed my own style.
After discovering the Lucid Art Foundation, I found my artistic lineage. It is rooted with the Surrealists and continued on the west coast with Gordon Onslo Ford and the Art and Consciousness movement.
My art path meandered through various forms of expression, including painting, sculpture, installation art, printmaking, book art, and a graphic novel. The three installation projects and the graphic novel were collaborative endeavors where I worked with composers, dancers, video artists, performance artists, illustrators, and writers.
Following the art path also led to setting down roots in the Oakland Arts community and co-founding two community art spaces. The last one (2007-2017) took part in an arts district revitalization in Oakland.
Starting in 2017 I began to explore a new form of expression: the monograph. These small books have made it possible to interweave the disparate threads in a more comprehensive way. The paintings and words form a narrative that gives the meeting of the inner and outer a voice in the world.
