Joan Matey: Guest Visual Artist

Artist Joan Matey will exhibit mixed media works November 16–30, 2019, at The Gallery at High Cotton (home of JOBA Art Studios) in Apalachicola. YOU ARE INVITED! Come meet the artist at the gallery 5:00 – 8:00 pm during our art opening party. This exhibition will continue and be available to the public until November 30th during our regular hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm.

A community leader, this diverse regional artist is known for provocative dimensional works, environmental performance art (Fishy Fashions), and creative expressive works. With a museum curator background, Matey founded, teaches and creates for Carrabelle’s magical Lantern Fest.

Join us as we proudly feature Joan Matey!

ARTIST STATEMENT – BIO 2019

Joan Matey  joanmatey@hotmail.com 

Since childhood, I have expressed myself or escaped from reality’s harshness through artistic endeavors. I use art to convey serious issues under the guise of an amusing, playful setting, and I strive to achieve emotional connection. I enjoy making dioramas depicting social behavior and I allow viewers to participate in the art piece in some cathartic way that helps them to share their feelings.

In “Who’s the Boss of YOU?” my father’s old briefcase houses an entire office complex. I hang a photo of my father over the piece, which shows him with his briefcase and 120 other businessmen at a conference. Drawing from my own experiences, I give the viewers a lot of situations that they can relate to. Every hand-sculpted animal represents a real person in my work life (like the “weasel” who used to tell me dirty jokes while I was using the copy machine). Observers are invited to share an anonymous comment about their boss on a post-it note and the many comments saved from various shows are an amazing sampling of opinions and feelings from a broad spectrum of people.

Similarly, “For the Best” a piece about suicide, inspired by an old golf trophy, gives viewers an opportunity to place a glass tear drop to represent their lost loved one.  I hope to inspire more artists to interpret their own feelings to produce a tangible, expressive representation of what’s important to them, and I have developed a presentation about that entitled Art Inten$ion: Art as an Emotional Response. I have a loyal patron, Dr. Patch Adams, who has purchased several of my artworks for the free hospital being built in West Virginia.

My parents were Philadelphian Catholics who relocated to Florida where I was raised. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University and afterwards decided to spend the first ten years of my adult life as a traveler, associating with vaudevillians, musicians, jugglers and artists; getting a better education that if I had stayed put and pursued a Masters. After my decade long walk-about I rejoined society and have worked as a tutor, a graphic artist and a museum curator, all of which earn me a pleasant livelihood to this day. I live in a rural coastal community in the Florida panhandle, where I create historical exhibits and programs for two museums. I started a special fall event for the Crooked River Lighthouse called Lantern Fest, which features an awesome display of hand made artistic lanterns. I make several new ones each year. I have an art studio (Squirrel Camp) where I keep producing my personal art, which includes an annual theatrical performance called the Fishy Fashion Show; a humorous production featuring unique outfits made from nautical flotsam and jetsam, with clever narration and mention of environmental preservation concerns.  (The Fishy Fashion Show by Joan Matey is on Facebook.)