My
artistic journey began in the early seventies when I was introduced
to printmaking and worked in various printmaking studios in New York City. There I was mentored
by a host of artists in New York City. By 1981 I had relocated to Washington DC,
to work and grow professionally.
During the 70's and early 80's my concern was discovering a means
By which to create an art vocabulary and grammar that included vibrant colors, cryptic
marks, shapes and symbols that referenced mathematics, anthropomorphic
forms and personal experiences and references to my growing up in a household where "The numbers" were played. I was
on a journey to create work in the printmaking medium that became
vehicles by which the viewer could journey through contemplative space.
Look for
a Star, 1983
Color Viscosity Etching
While in the mid- eighty's I continued to make prints, my focus turned
to painting, mixed media and drawing. Most important to me of course, was the development
of my artistic voice as a painter and printmaker. It has always been
through abstraction that I have sought to express my feelings. The use
of intuition, textures, vivid colors, mark making and a process-orientated
approach aided me in digging deeply into my heart to express myself.
Intuition aided by the use of stream consciousness fed the palette of
my work from 1985 through the early nineties. During this time I was
using oil paint stick on paper to create intuitive large-scale color,
charcoal, graphite and gouache mixed media drawings. Intuition was
to be the means by which the viewer could find his or her way around
my work. During this period I processed my work by constructing, deconstructing,
and reconstructing it. That meant tearing, pasting, coloring, the
scrambling and unscrambling of ideas and processes. It was what I
imagined that scientists do as they process combinations of DNA particles
in search of a mapping mechanism for the human gene "scape."
In my case, I was in search of a means of creating a truly emotional
work!
Number Genome, 2000
Mixed Media Acrylic Painting on Canvas
In my recent body of work, I continue to be process-oriented. The
works thematically have become more non-objective yet remain cryptically
symbolic - even emotional. Thematically, I use abstract geometry as
a means of connecting the viewers with simplicity and therefore to
the spiritual in art. The vocabulary of my work continues to include
textures, mark making, mixed media and referential symbols, but includes
the introduction of a new palette. It allows me to apply many layers
of vibrant, transparent color to the geometric and mathematically
inspired content and canvasses -- a layering that is symbolic of the
multi-faceted nature of human existence.
Artist Statement
"Art is my vessel. It is filled or emptied by the flow and ebb
of energies brought forth by the theater of my life. As in life, art
too is a journey on which I travel. Like a seed, I am blown by a swirling
wind into fertile soil in which the seeds of my intuitive self can
bloom. Intuition is, after all is said and done, the means to the
end of creative expression.
The Two Lovers, 2000
Pastel on Paper
Art is the fuel that carries me on an adventure to discover the mysteries
of the universal and the individual self. Because art is both seen
and felt it has the power to engage the body, mind and spirit. Guided
by the universal intuition and random chance, the grammar, emotion
and passion of my art becomes knowable and meaningful, and informs
me and I hope others about ourselves and our world."
Set Theory: Paintings, Prints & Drawings of Joyce WellmanUniversity of Arkansas, Little Rock AK 1/16/07 - 3/7/07
Not An Ocean Between Us: Voices of Women from Africa and the African Disapora Diggs Gallery5/30/06 - 3/17/07
Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC Holding Our Own: Selections from the Collectors Club of Washington, University of Md. 10/29/06 - 1/4/07
Telling Their Story: Artists Books The Noyes Muesum of Art, OceanVille, NJ 9/30/06 -12/10/06
News Briefs
2007
Wellman selected for Art in Public Places program. She creates "Balence Master 3" for The Eastern Market Windows Project. On view 5/15/07 - 5/15/09 Washinton, DC
Look for Wellman's works on paper at Weber Fine Arts - Greenwich Conn. & Scarsdale NY
Wellman joins Hearne Fine Arts -Little Rock Arkansas 501 372-6822 ,
"Autumn Passages" A video documenting Wellman's residency and public art commission at the NC A&T State University Greensboro in 2005 is a featured short in the2nd Annual Heritage Film & Video Festival, March 31th 2007 Prince George's Community College's Rennie Forum, Largo Md
Wellman gives Artist Talk - "My Life as an Artist" Philander Smith College, Little Rock Arkansas
Wellman interviewed for Women's History Month on WPFW Fm Washington, DC
May 5th Joyce Interviewed on "In Our Voices" -WPFW 89.3 FM radio. Host Nkenje Toure interviews Joyce about Steal Away, her inter-disciplinary artist book.
2006
New York Public Library Aquires color etching "Journey Thru Migration" via a donation. Its added to their fine print collection
2005
Wellman creates - Steal Away an artist book at the Experimental Printmaking Institute, Lafayette College, PA. as Teague Blackburn Visiting ArtistSteal Away exhibited 2006-2007 @: The Noyes Museum, NJ, Winston-Salem State University, Winston Salem, NC & University of Arkansas Little Rock Art Gallery
NEW PUBLICATIONS :
Wellman's work featured in the following publications
Creating Their Own Image: The History of African American Women Artists by Lisa Farrington, Oxford University Press, London
2005 pg.198 ISBN 0-19-516721-X
"Images of America:African American Voices: Selections from The Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Darrell Walker" The Walton Art Center, Little Rock, Arkansas. 2004. Catalogue US. ISBN 0-974431400-0
Collecting Limited Edition Prints: Contemporary African American Printmakers; By Dennis Forbes ISBN# 0-9745509-0-6, 2004
