Featured Artist Joan Hall

Artist Joan Hall creates intriguing and expressive assemblages using found objects. Visit her website to view more of her creative work.

 

 

I was born in Brooklyn, New York. My parents were both artists, so I was encouraged to follow suit as soon as I could hold a pencil.

 

 

My medium is collage and assemblage. These pieces are called Icons. In this series, I like to combine both natural and man-made objects in order to create archetypal figures that convey the essence of each character.

 

 

It is my belief that every experience is reflected in whom one is. In my case, the many years that I spent as a company member of The American Mime Theatre influenced my Icon assemblages.

 

 

As a mime, forming characterizations without the use of words describing who that person is must be conveyed visually. I have found a similar process in this art form by the juxtaposition, placement and choice of various objects in each piece.

 

 

I am a collector. The found objects that I use will dictate what the finished piece will be. The crushed tin in “Fashionista” resembles a dress. I added a carved bone head, and an arm and leg found in a Paris flea market, along with a bit of attitude!

 

 

I love to travel and have had the luck and pleasure of visiting many countries and discovering many treasures.

 

 

Some of the things incorporated in these pieces are horseshoe crab shells, rusted locks and keys, bird skulls, an antique Shaker shovel, wishbone, deer horns and odd pieces of wood. They are all framed in plexiglass cases.

 

 

This Icon series is just one body of work. I usually take a theme and just focus on that until I exhaust the idea and feel ready to move on to something completely different.