Interview
Joy French
Inspired by the art of daily life, the work of Joy French portrays the poignant and the personal with a stirring alacrity. Stunning in their detail, these mesmerizing portraits are character driven more than anything else.
With her training and experience as a sculptor, French is able to create alluring portrayals of people that are thrillingly three-dimensional and breathtakingly true to life. Fascinated by the people she meets every day, she imbues her portraits with electric colors and expressively abstract flourishes.
Vivacious and animated, they are dazzlingly true to reality in appearance and feeling. In these works, French touches on the essence of humanity in all its forms.
“Meeting people, communicating with others and their life experiences and what gives them purpose in life, knowledge, feelings and the awareness of others inspires my art work” explains French.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I have always been creative since I was a child. I studied the arts right through high school, and whilst at high school I worked at the Phillip Piperade Art Foundry – observing and learning the art of sculpture. Then I received an apprenticeship with another very reputable art foundry with Cobble casting – in Queensland, with Peter and Louise Smit. ‘Cobble casting’ was probably where I learnt the most in sculpting and gained real hands-on experience in the ancient art of sculpting as well as the arduous work of art foundries and bronze casting.
Following that, I studied a course in visual arts in Brisbane, and did a couple of years on the Gold Coast studying TV and film – trying different mediums of the arts. I then had a break from art for quite a few years. I was unwell in my early twenties and then I lost my mother to cancer and not long after a partner in a car accident.
This ignited the spark in me to get creative again, so I decided to paint to help me deal with my grief. I was lucky to find a wonderful mentor by the name of Di Skelly Heron, who guided me with the right to tools to gain self-confidence and get back into my painting and find my own inner creativity.
She gave me tools to tap back into that creative space in me that lay dormant for many years. I slowly started showing my work to friends and family and this was when Facebook started and people liked them and started buying them. So I started hitting up pop up art spaces and different places to showcase my works.”
What does your work aim to say? Does it comment on any current social or political issues?
“My artwork aims to evoke an emotion, feeling or a memory. It's up to the audience and what they want to see. Even though my work is portraiture and tends to be more obvious in its form of expressive faces, I am always surprised by what people have to say about my paintings, and who they thought the paintings might have been or the feelings they got from them.
You will see me painting iconic, powerful public figures, singers, actors, musicians, and they might be a reflection of worldly events or things that are close to me or have moved me in some way. I am also influenced by the environment that I live in.”
Which current art world trends are you following?
“Although a bit cliché of me, I don't follow trends. My answer above touches on the trends I follow – people from all over the world are my art world trend.”
“I don't really aim for my painting to say anything, they are just a creative expression of me at a moment in time using someone's face as a muse to work off; to tell a story through shape, color, lines, shade and texture.”
Do you plan your work in advance, or is it improvisation?
“No, I never really plan any of my paintings. I might think about who I am going to paint, or feel inspired by someone or something before, but not the process of how and what it’s going to look like or what colors I am going to use, unless the work is a commission piece and there is a specific brief that I am given.”
What process, materials and techniques do you use to create your artwork?
“There is no real process, just to be present with the shape, form, colors and shades. I prefer to see what I feel like at the time – sometimes it works out, other times it doesn’t. I use acrylics and occasionally oil pastels. Material wise, I use whatever I have around me. I like experimenting with different materials but my go to's are Chux dishlex wipes, squidgy (window cleaning item) and of course brushes and sponges. With texture mediums, I also don't mind using multimedia to try different visual effects.”
What does your art mean to you?
“Art is a cathartic tool for me — a space to heal, to be free, to be in my head but also my heart. It's a tool for me to be able to create and connect into myself. I don't like to over complicate the process. The human psyche can be so complex, so whatever is going on for me will just be my process, but this can be interpreted a million different ways by others.”
What’s your favorite artwork and why?
“My answer might be over generalized, but life and loss are my favorite artworks. No one or nothing in particular stands out for me. This is because I never stop learning from life or loss or someone or something. I can’t pinpoint it down to a favorite artwork – life is art, loss is art; the things unknown.”
“Art is simply an outlet to tap into my feelings and let go, depending on what is happening in my life at that time.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“A few of my memorable exhibitions include:
Agora Gallery in New York.
Brick Lane Gallery in London.
Dbar Gallery on the Gold Coast (now shut down).
Various pop up arts shows throughout Queensland.
Various live art events on the Gold Coast – painting live with musicians.”
Instagram: @joyfrenchartist
Other: Facebook
