Piecing the Fabrics of Art
Swirls of colour falling like a blanket of leaves – that might really just be leaves, or perhaps, actual patchwork quilt now. Perhaps a curious mixture of both? Lace and scrapbook paper torn and pieced upon a pure white surface that is equal parts plaster wall and fine ceramic. Spinning, floating and ever-changing: this is the world of New York-based artist Joyce Pommer, who invites us for a glimpse into her creative journey the way her portfolio bids a double take.
Going back to the beginning, art to the committed is often a lifelong pursuit regardless of background, and Joyce might be the prime testimony for this. She has loved the discipline from her childhood, and found her niche in working with textures, textiles, and collage-type pieces for the past three decades and counting. After years of conquering various milestones such as moving from Boston to New York City to exhibit her works, working as a nurse both to fund her creative passions, and to make ends meet, she has finally achieved her dream of becoming a full-time artist. And her work shows that it was worth the wait.
Playing with textiles and papers – sometimes sourced, other times handmade – on canvas is perhaps well-woven into one's creative fabric when setting up studio on Manhattan's “Garment District”. Whilst owing to this technique, always unique, Joyce's latest pieces are unlike anything she has done before. In this series, she explores white spaces in contrast with her usual collages with works like Pathways and To a Land Beyond. This proves an entirely different challenge from balancing the different textures and visuals of the collages alone. In doing so, she hopes to not only channel focus towards the movement of her collages dancing across the otherwise blank canvas, but also to give the viewers the space to catch their breath for just a moment in the midst of the various aesthetics.
This is perhaps all the more poignant when taking her instinctive, almost spontaneous approach into account. It is not uncommon for Joyce to work on several pieces at once, and the myriad of materials and spaces find their way around her initial idea as she progresses. As such, the rhythms – like the ones centred on in this series – are almost entirely organic and unique. In addition to this, she also relishes in unusual combinations, placing elements and materials of different backgrounds, origins, and aesthetics, which might not seem to harmonise at first glance, together. This is evident in pieces such as Brothers, where photography, fabric and foliage meet, and even in the new series with works like In My Space where oriental and occidental notes collide. The most magical moment for her then occurs when a viewer, too, emotionally relates to her work in all their iconoclasm, connecting artist and audience at an intrinsic level and in a way individual to each piece.
Always one to move with her art as demonstrated, Joyce will be working with Rtistiq to adapt her works to the digital realm next. She hopes that doing so will enable her to reach out to more viewers who derive the same “strength, happiness, and joy” from her artworks as she does from creating them.
Embrace harmony through Joyce Pommer's art site ( https://joycepommer.com/index.html ) or her Instagram ( @pommerart ).
