Interview
Joyce Thornbug
Joyce Thornbug is a compulsive artist - she paints everyday out of necessity! Her images are raw and intuitive, with colors that harmonize in unexpected ways and exuberance often collides with angst.
Faces predominate her work, many in frontal gazes that meets the viewer head-on; faces as maps that reveal places we've been, or may be going.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I am a North Carolina native but lived and worked in Miami, Florida for four decades before relocating to Asheville, North Carolina in 2006. I have been an artist my entire life but wasn’t able to pursue my passion full time until I took early retirement from my career in newspaper advertising and marketing at The Miami Herald. Since 2010, I have had my own working studio and gallery in the River Arts District in Asheville, North Carolina.”
What inspires you most?
“What inspires me changes on a daily basis - some pieces are driven by strong emotions, some by a passion for a particular color palette or texture building, etc. I also love experimenting with mixed media, combining collage with paint and found objects.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work??
“My work is not ‘theme-driven’ per se, but the human figure (primarily the face) is predominant in my work. They feel like ‘psychological portraits’ in a sense. In the words of Zorba the Greek, ‘I embrace everything…the full catastrophe…speaking to the human condition of joy, triumph, suffering, and celebration.’”
"I feel like my process is an excavation of sorts - where images and ancestral spirits come together in conversation, that my presence (through brush and palette knife) facilitates."
How would you describe your work??
“My work is raw and intuitive. I don’t start with a preconceived notion of what I want to paint. I simply start and the painting unfolds. My colors harmonize in unexpected ways and enthusiasm and angst often collide in the process.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I am most inspired by other intuitive artists: Basquiat and Picasso are two of my favorites. With my own work, I like best those pieces that surprise me the most, where emotion, palette choice and mark-making come together in a seamless way.”
What is your creative process like?
“My creative process is fluid and unplanned for the most part. I allow my mood of the day to dictate the direction I will go in. Some days I work on large paintings. Other days, I’m drawn to making smaller pieces where mere mark-making predominates.”
“Painting is poetry seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen” -Leonardo da Vinci
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving??
“I think an artist’s greatest service is to be authentic with their work. Expressing deep felt emotions and dealing with social issues and injustices is also important. Bringing beauty and truth into a chaotic world is, in my opinion, a responsibility that all artists should embrace. I think the artist’s role will and should evolve with these priorities.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“EXHIBITIONS:
Cherry Bounce/American Politics / William King Museum Abingdon, VA., September 2016-January 2017
Saatchi Art / Urban Edge, New Street Art collection 2016
Attic Gallery /Vicksburg, MS 2012 to current
Beverly Kaye online gallery/ 2015MUSEUM AFFILIATIONS/COLLECTIONS:
Victor Keane collection at the Bethany Mission Gallery/ Philadelphia, PA.
Private Patrons in North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, New Orleans,
New York, Pennsylvania and Merida, Mexico.”
Website: www.joycethornburg.net
Instagram: @joycehthornburg
