Joanna Stuart

Photographs are the foundation of my art. I make photographs that stand on their own, and also combine fragments of many different photos to create entirely new images—photographic collages. Some fragments may show just a single color or texture. A close-up of a glass bead may become the canopy of a tree; a stack of books, a building; or silk fabric, the wing of a bird. These photo fragments are the building blocks for my collages. In some collages, I place imagined images together with real images, such as a window or a cup of tea. Imaginary interiors and outdoor scenes are the subjects of many of my collages. Others are non-representational images.

While making my art, my imagination flies; I don’t know where it will take me. At the same time, completing a collage demands intense focus, as I work to create an imaginary image and couple it with the real. At first, viewers sometimes perceive my collages as paintings, and my photographs as collages.

My roots in Brooklyn NY, education in cultural anthropology, and experiences in Latin America, shape many of the choices I make in creating art. In all my artistic efforts, my inspiration comes from delighting in discovering the unusual in the everyday. I hope that viewers feel a sense of surprise and enjoyment from my art.