Joan Slottow

I have a BFA degree in sculpture from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, CA. I have a long history of doing painting, print making, ceramics and sculpture. While I have recently been doing mainly painting, my paintings sometimes take the form of low-relief sculpture on canvas.

My art is abstract. The verb “to abstract” means to pick out the essence of something and ignore those qualities that are not really important. Abstract art can be either representational or non-representational, and my work is usually abstract representational. I often use figurative imagery, especially images of either real or imaginary animals, in my work.

I am an expressionist in that I believe that making art both reveals the soul of the artist and fills a spiritual purpose. In Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Wassily Kandinsky wrote that it is the spiritual role of the artist to bring light into the world and expel some of the darkness that exists here. My art is about energy, joy and the goodness of life. My work is sometimes playful or whimsical. I make use of child-like imagery as both animals and things which are child-like carry with them an air of innocence. I pay no heed to the sizes of actual objects and juxtapose unlikely companions. In my paintings a single bird can be larger than the entire globe of the earth, which appears there right next to it. I pay no heed to realistic lighting and I flatten both the objects the background, or turn them into design. I make use of curviness as curves, especially upward-directed curves elicit a joyful response and also refer to things which are organic. I add little bits of schtick here and there, as if I am crafting a comedy routine. I like texture and complexity.

Website: joanslottowart.com