The best works of art express the complexity of being human with an eye to transcendence. For me, making art is a spiritual practice and I approach the canvas with an eye to evolving my soul. I currently work in three distinct styles which represent the triad of the human condition: Mind, Body, Spirit. In developing these series, I’ve discovered the important interplay between emotions, consciousness awareness and enlightenment.
Jill Joy - Death Comes and Recedes - oil on canvas - 48x72"
The Emotion Series addresses emotions as energy. Energy which must be felt and allowed to move through us in order for us to learn from them and eventually transcend them. These paintings are intense, active and filled with a sense of energy in motion. They relate to the human struggle: dealing with loss, pain, joy, change and aspiration.
The Consciousness Series speaks to the awareness of oneself as an individual developing and evolving within a field of universal consciousness or Love. In this work, this universal field and our presence within it are represented by a surreal landscape - the sky or ocean - or both. The peaceful spacious portions of the canvas evoking the dome of unbroken universal awareness.
Jill Joy - Solace - oil on canvas, 48x60"
The Illumination Series represents the process of enlightenment; the awareness and experience of an eternal field of light that exists beyond the temporal human experience and the awareness of of ourselves as separate. I have experienced it as a type of grace as light enters my mind almost unbidden after years of confronting my fears and the hard work clearing myself of negative thoughts and old conditioning.
Jill Joy - Emanation - oil on canvas - 48x60
There is an ongoing interplay in my life between these three states: experiencing and clearing emotional energy to achieve a more profound and peaceful state of consciousness and ultimately a sense of the presence of light in my mind and the elimination of the boundary between the inner and outer world. Some of my collectors have referred to these paintings as maps for spiritual development. In living with them, the process of evolving as a human being, as a soul, is communicated and enhanced.
I work in oil on canvas for two reasons. For the Emotion paintings, the materiality of oil, the thickness, the texture one can achieve helps me communicate the passion and drama of the emotional process. In Consciousness and Illumination, I’ve found, through using certain mediums, I can produce a luminous quality that uplifts the soul when viewing the work. Oil allows me to create delicate surfaces that change with the light reflecting the subtle nature of being in balance with something greater than myself.