Joan Savoy

Statement
 

I have trouble describing my art. I don't feel words are necessary, particularly if the viewer 
knows the essence of art and art history.  The work is so obviously sexual and colorful and
multi-cultural and and gives much quarter to negative space. I just want my art to be unabashed
and true, confident, fun and beautiful. 

My arty friends say I have to write more than this, so here's what I've got:

All good painting is the same somehow, so subject matter or pure technical skill doesn't really

matter much. 

Any artist who's really working from deep inside or high above is going to make marks that are
them. Why flowers? Because I love them and have spent countless hours planting trees, flowers and
shrubs and have "been up in them." People often ask why I draw circles and I really didn't know.
I can posit that my arm likes to move that way, which it really does, or they're zen-ny, and I kind of
picked them up because I enjoy Asian art and Buddhism? I could also say that painting vulvas,
apparently known as yoni art, can be a way to "celebrate femininity, embrace sexuality, and reclaim  identity." (Yep, looked that up.) What woman in the world doesn't work on empowering and reclaiming herself while moving through a world dominated by men? Painting the vulva and breasts

says "Here I Am," I reckon. Of course penises do make an appearance.

I was often told by other artists to "avoid using blacks, dark browns, floating objects, arbitrary
horizon lines... and sex shapes." Oh well.

I draw the horizontal black loopy figure 8 shapes because when I taught at a big inner city high
school they trained a team of us to teach some fun, calming and centering exercises to the students.
Done at the start of class, they really were effective. One of the grounding exercises involved drawing
a sideways figure 8 three ways - 10x loops with your right hand, then 10x loops with theleft, then
10x both. This was supposed to be your brain pattern (?) and it obviously stuck with me. It makes a
great entry point for my abstract watercolor, gouache and India ink work.

I like contrast and texture. I like simple shapes and sometimes they're anthropormorphized so the
work appears surreal. I don't worry about creating real space or realistic modeling too much. I
make up my own shadows.

Being born with some keen color sense, I can sometimes feel color. If I see a box of crayons or a red
and green color combination, say in a piece of fabric, I can get viscerally excited. I often see color compositions and simple shapes in my third eye, mostly when meditating or falling asleep.  If I ask
to be shown my next painting, I'm presented subliminally with small shapes - typically ovals or simple flower shapes - and simple color combinations, but rarely an actual composition. 

I prefer a matte texture in paint so I mix my own with milk powder (casein), natural pigments and
clay to combat the plasticity of the acrylic. Gouache and watercolor are naturally matte so that works.
India ink and graphite can get shiny, which I like sometimes. I love the deep, rich black only India ink provides.

I sometimes design compositions so they can be visually entered from the left or right. 

I try not to think when I'm working. When I reach an impasse or if the work isn't awake yet, I leave it. Sometimes I destroy it and try again later to extract a true essence. I just know when the work is true

and I keep going until it arrives. Excitement, bewilderment, fear and frustration are unavoidable as

that's the art birthing process. It's fun, too. I typically listen to energetic music when working.

I had a life-changing experience in 2022. Bob Thompson, an African-American artist then dead for 56 years, figuratively gave me the hat he had depicted in several pieces that were part of an unforgettable
show of his at Colby College. Bob's (repeated or inverted) hat shape, or its outline, along with his solid
blocks of color that almost read as stencils have since appeared in my works as integral compositional elements. That's morphed now, but seeing that show really woke me up to something.

Artists I admire encourage me not to censor myself. Maybe that way it's imbued with some sort of
magic. Maybe the yonis speak and help me reclaim my space.

Art Biography

Born - New Jersey

Grants/Awards/Residencies 

2024, 2023, 2021 and other years - Returning residency in the Michael Mazur Print Studio,

          The Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetwon, MA 
 

1992, 1987, 1985 – Selected for residency during Vermont Artists’ Week,           
          The Vermont Studio School, Johnson, Vermont

1991 - Vermont Council on the Arts, Fellowship Awards Finalist
           Montpelier, Vermont

           (One of the old National Endowment for the Arts-backed Individual
           Grants to Artists Awards)

1977 – Nominated for College Honors in Photography, University of Vermont Art 

             Department, Burlington, Vermont
Selected Exhibition Record

I am not able to reproduce a complete copy of my art resume; following is a short list of all that can be

reliably reconstructed.              

01/23   Juried Group Exhibition - Red

              Cambridge Art Association

              Cambridge, Massachusetts

              Juror: Dina Deitsch, Director & Chief Curator, Tufts University Art Gallery

06/22   Members' Open

              Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill

              Truro, Massachusetts

06/21   Members' Open

              Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill

              Truro, Massachusetts

11/17 - 1/18  Members’ Open: Small Works
             Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM)
             Provincetown, Massachusetts

2017   Summer Member’s Show at Cambridge Art Association, “SCAPES”
           CAA University Place Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts

2001   Juried Group Exhibition – 21^st Annual Faber Birren National Color Award Show
              Stamford Art Association Townhouse Gallery, Stamford, Connecticut

1990   Solo Exhibition - Saint Michael’s College Art Gallery

            Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, Vermont

1989   Solo Exhibition - Francis Colburn Gallery

            University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont

1981    Juried Group Exhibition - The Monumental Show

            Gowanus Memorial Art Yard, Brooklyn, New York

            (curated by Frank Shifreen, Michael Keene and George Moore)
 

1980? - About a year or so before the Gowanus Show in 1981 I had a Solo
             Exhibition at the Salon de Refuses at the Westbeth Artists Space in
             New York City, curated by Michael Keene. I can no longer identify the
              exact date.

Art-Related Work Experience

1986 to 1991 - Adjunct Professor of Art, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester,
Vermont; Taught painting, 2D design, and some art history

Selected Education 

2014   State of Massachusetts Reading Specialist Licensure,

            Collaborative for Educational Services/Fitchburg State, Fitchburg,           
            Massachusetts

2006   Wilson Reading System Teacher Training, 

             Wilson Reading Academy, Oxford, Massachusetts

2006   Masters of Education, Special Education/Moderate Disabilities (5-12),          
             Cambridge College, Cambridge, Massachusetts 

1977    BA, Double Major in English and Studio Art with a History minor,

             The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, 1976-1977

1973-1975 

            College studies with a concentration in Studio Art and History,

            Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York