Joy Shannon- Artist Statement
I am a performing, recording and visual artist and author. I create mixed-media visual artworks with painting and printmaking methods alongside emotive musical recordings and performances.
The first subject matter that inspired me was the female body and I have used it to express my own personal experiences as well as Western women’s historical experiences of sexual abuse and control which was a result of Christianity’s repression of pagan sensuality and goddess-worship. I often print on layers of old book paper in order to illustrate the idea of centuries of cultural history layering upon itself. I have studied cultural history for my masters degree and much of the themes in my visual art and music come from the idea that we are as a people are a culmination of all that has historically come before us. I am deeply artistically inspired by the idea of healing generational wounds that are passed down in families in the forms of abuse and negative belief patterns.
My last series of artwork (2009-2011) was called “The Beauty Mark” which was accompanied by three albums of music “The Opium Wars or Love in Lieu of Laudanum” (2009), “The Black Madonna” (2010), and “Out of My Dreams and Into My Arms” (2011). This series was inspired by the bodily pain, muscle memories and body issues that sexual abuse leaves behind in the female survivor’s body. I illustrated women in various states of unrest within their bodies and ultimately reclaiming their sensuality. For example, in pieces like “Mnemosyne”, which was both an art piece and a song, I illustrated the concept of a goddess of memory that could help an individual face traumatic memories. The individual in the piece is both being helped by this ancient pagan goddess and embodying the goddess herself. The song is like an incantation to the goddess and a plea for help through pain.
My work is inspired by the Expressionists like Kathë Kollwitz and Egon Schiele that used the exterior of the human form to express the internal emotional experience. The performative element of my work– in using my own body to create work and to perform music at my art shows– is inspired by the performance work of Ana Mendieta who used her female form to represent our elemental ties to the earth itself.
As with my music, I have used my visual art and writing to express my own personal healing from my past. It is my deepest hope that my work might inspire others to know they are not alone on their own life journeys.
