Andrea Joki

Gallery Affiliations: Gebert Contemporary, William Busta Gallery

Region: Midwest

Website: http://www.andreajoki.com

City / State: Cleveland, OH

My recent paintings reflect an inquiry into process, perception, identity, and the sensory experiences of place. They evolve from expressionistic passages of gestural brushstrokes, drips, and splatters to a progressively more refined pattern of overlapping masked geometric shapes. The initial layers are increasingly obfuscated, but never entirely disappear. I am intrigued with the rhythmic palimpsest of accumulating layers of paint, and enjoy thinking about the resultant visual language as metaphor for identity seen as a collection of actions over time.

Finding inspiration in travel, I document my journeys with photography, video, and sound recordings. I use this research material to deepen and sharpen memories of specific sensations of moving through space. In mining these sensory observations, my abstract language also grows from formal concerns of line and color relationships, as well as the action of painting. I am interested in creating spatial relationships that draw the gaze inward to find a paint surface that flickers like a light about to burn out