Joyce Polance – chaos and control, figurative palette knife painting

Joyce-Polance-figure-painting

My current work explores the dichotomy between chaos and control in the physical process of painting. I apply paint very thickly and somewhat abstractly, mostly with a palette knife. When the surface is covered but still wet, I attack the work, throwing myself into it (using brushes or my fingers) with abandon.

Joyce-Polance-palette-knife

In becoming willing to destroy that which I have just created, I allow for something entirely new to emerge.

Joyce-Polance-figure-painting2

The challenge then is to apply enough restraint to pull the painting back together. This dual process may occur multiple times during the creation of a piece, removing the painting even further from reality. Rather than conveying a specific narrative, my aim is to capture an energy, a feeling… a moment.
Joyce Polance

Read about our studio visit with Joyce
Sep 10, 2016

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