JOY at CHRISTMAS!
In mid-December, it is a delight to be able to bring JOY into your lives!
So here it is -
in the form/and forms of USA-based Artist, JOY SACALIS.
Joy and I met on Instagram several years ago and have always enjoyed, and swapped, each other’s work.
At 68, Joy is in the prime of her art career. She is based in
Robbinsville, New Jersey , and works in her studio at the Art Station, an industrial building in Hightstown, NJ.
It is a communal space with 15 artists, like a “close knit family”.
Joy’s own studio is a private room, “an oasis full of books,materials,and objects of inspiration…messy yet functional! The time I spend in the studio varies -it can be anywhere from once a month to seven days a week.
She says, “ we tidy up for the Open House twice a year in Spring and Fall” -
[Ed: and pre Christmas I understand, as this weekend apparently, it’s also Open House! So git yerselves down there if you’re in the vicinity and pick up some wonderful Art for you, or your loved ones, or both. Soak up the party atmos and enjoy the vibe!]
Do check the time first as it could be different on t’ other side of the Pond….
Joy’s website is www.joysacalis.com
& her Instagram @joysacalis
When asked about her work, Joy describes it as “Mixed media paintings on fabric. They are materially rich, resonant , and layered, containing incidental objects, expressionist marks and gestures, and evidence of practical joinery (duct tape, safety pins, straight pins…) Some are joyful and whimsical, conjuring up the nostalgia of childhood. Some are about overcoming adversity, others are abstract pictorials of places, feeling, or even music. At times the current world events seem to incorporate themselves.
”No material is worth more than another. Everything plays a part in the overall design. Each piece is put through a process of painting - joining - cutting or ripping apart - joining again in a different way - painting over - adding on…. I respond intuitively to what I see in the moment. They seem to take on a life of their own over time. I’m excavating all of my experiences, trusting my honest expressions.
My work seeks to strike a balance between free expressionism and structure. In the process of making my Art, I want to experience something that is new, and uncontrived.”
As Joy says, the time she spends away from her studio is as important as the time she spends there. All artists need to refresh their vision, by walking in their favourite environment, checking out You Tube videos, and catching up on their favourite artists.
For Joy, it means revisiting the work of Jean Michel Basquiat ( no surprise there!), Rose Wylie, Francis Davison and Australian Indigenous artists.
That list encapsulates much of what there is to understand of where Joy’s artistic dynamism comes from and how it is refreshed, but not by any means all.
Joy Sacalis is very much her own woman with her own voice which speaks loudly to us all, of enjoyment, love, and the longing for a new awakening, a New Dawn of Joy.
On that note - we’d like to wish you all, whatever season you are anticipating, a very Happy One.
Enjoy!
oh yes… and here’s a puzzle for you - How many times does Joy appear in all this text? The word that is, not just our wonderful heroine!
Have you a favourite artist/ tutor /mentor who encouraged you?
“I’ve received encouragement from several artist friends. I’d like to mention Donna Payton (@donnapaytonart) and Jeff Wenzel (@jeffwenzelart). I also appreciate the Instagram art community and admire a lot of people’s work.
”Lately I’ve been obsessed with Rose Wylie. I love how the large scale works come from her sketches and how she patches together pieces of canvas. They are beautiful (in her own words) “misfits”.
Their construction is imperfect yet elegant. There’s such a freshness about her paintings. She works with abandon, without judgment of her work, and I just adore how she pieces them together. I love her quirkiness, too!
How often are you able to be in your studio space and do you have gallery representation?
”The time I spend in the studio varies - it can be anything from once a month to seven days a week.
My last exhibit was as a feature artist at the Monmouth County Art Alliance, where I also juried the members’ exhibits.
I am seeking gallery representation. Self promotion is the most challenging aspect of getting my work shown. I sell at both my studio’s Open days.”
How do you deal with low energy levels?
“When low on energy ….just show up and start working! Look, and react to what you see. Trust the process. Be Wild!
That’s often the catalyst for fresh art.
The time I spend away from the studio is just as important as when I’m in it. Time away allows me to detach, so I can come back to my work with fresh eyes.
When not making Art, I’m thinking Art.”
What next, Joy?
“ My next big project is a complete website overhaul!”
Joy’s current website is www.joysacalis.com.
You can also find her on Instagram - @joysacalis.
Easy peasy, eh?!
Here’s Joy, in front of her composition HYDRA.
She appears to be reflecting on her professional history, the gist of which she describes below….
“After having worked as a Landscape Artist, my restless nature took me to explore other creative avenues - magazine illustrator, window display artist, fabric painting and abstract expressionist painting. And then…during the pandemic lockdown, I was working exclusively from home, and the challenge was to use only what I had to hand: brown bedsheets left over from my previous marriage, a couple of tubes of paint, paper, and various other things I would scrounge up. I became so consumed by the process that I’d sometimes stay up all night making these fabric constructions.”