McCormick, Joanna

Since graduating with a BA in Fine Art from Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montford University) in 1991, I have been involved with many art projects and made work for The Ikon Gallery , The Holly Lodge Centre in Richmond Park The National Trust. I became self-employed in 2002 and have worked as an artist for organisations such as Carers Lewisham, The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and Mole Valley District Council, where I ran reminiscence and creative activity workshops with a local storytelling group. From these I developed the installation Wildlife Document with sound sculptures, drawings, oil paintings and collages. I have worked across all forms of art, specialising in installation, but also including performance. My collaborative “Sol Le Witt Hysteria” performance had its debut at Helmut Newton Ladies' Night, part of the GSK Contemporary at The Royal Academy in January 2009. I have focused on painting since the birth of my two children. Working in oil on canvas, I have a keen sense of colour that has been informed by Eugene Chevreul's scientific research. From this, I have devised my own system and I paint using the theory of simultaneous contrast. I use a base coat that is opposite to the top layer. I paint with free brush strokes over this, leaving gaps for the base colour to shine through. This maximises the brilliance of the colours, enhancing their vitality, and gives a lively and exhilarating feel to my paintings that is often tempered by sinister subject matter. The details painted onto the top layer come from a range of sources. I work intuitively, drawing inspiration from Victorian scrap books, early advertising, retro children's books, pattern books from the fifties and sixties, textile designs, family photographs and artists such as Kuniyoshi. I like to draw with paint, using thin brushes to etch lines on top of flat layers. I use printing techniques, stencilling and printing oil paint on to the canvas from objects such as doilies, creating a bold, three-dimensional effect. I have increasingly used text in my work from my own writing, ancient texts and popular culture.

Contact details
Mrs  Joanna  McCormick
07941 68 77 63
joanna.mccormick@googlemail.com
www.joart.info

Primary Art Form
Visual Arts and Designer Makers

Other Artform categories
Audio-visual Art
Installation
Painter / 2D
Photographer
Visual Arts