Holyoke (and other states of being)
For the past year I have lived, worked and walked the in canal district of Holyoke — a neighborhood of contrasts and contradictions. There is undeniable beauty here: wide skies, light bouncing off the water, wild, wiggling reflections, and a supernatural glow that radiates from the brick mill buildings. There is also heartbreak and filth here as well as the hope of renewal, and evidence of that hope dashed.
The buildings, once proud drivers of an exploding, industrial economy dwindle in numbers as more are torn down; their bricks pulverized to grit. A rare few are renovated, many simply hang on.
To me they are organic, living beings made animate by their decline/death/rebirth.
I take photos on my walks, but the paintings I make are fictitious, only loosely based on actual scenes. Back in my studio I paint thickly with oils on panels, often on top of old works that no longer satisfy me, lending unexpected color bleeds and crazy textures to the final surface.
The resulting images carry a truth not found in visual representation, but in the expression of the states of being I feel in the buildings: loneliness, crowding, alienation, partnership, perseverance, obliteration, the unflagging ticking of time with the decay it brings, and finally, the hope of a phoenix-like return to relevance, to wholeness.
— Joanne Holtje
After receiving her BA from Tufts University, Massachusetts local, Joanne Holtje embarked upon what turned out to be a lifetime journey of art education and training of her own making.
Her work is recognizable for its expressiveness through color and mark-making, and for its celebration the physicality of oil paint.
Since 2006 she has exhibited in a wide range of venues including the Fitchburg Art Museum, the Danforth Museum, Framingham, D’Amour Museum of Fine Art, Springfield, Oxbow Gallery, Easthampton, Concord Art, Fountain Street Gallery, Boston, the Painting Center, Chelsea, NY. Her work appears in the book, Creating Abstract Art by Dean Nimmer, and on the cover of How We Burn by Erica Charis-Molling.
Joanne now lives, works, and draws inspiration from the Pioneer Valley. This is her first show at Pulp Gallery.