Biography

Whatever the medium, Joëlle Voogt′s work is dynamic, yet often focused on uniting the human figure with two dimensional design. She combines realism, stylized details, and composition with an emphasis on process.  ″The process of painting inspires me to understand my motivation for painting certain subject matter; a female profile, beautiful tiles, fabrics, stylized plants. I′ve come to realize that everything I create is a self portrait in some way, and this exploration of self is essentially what compels me to paint.  I love to hear people tell me what they see in my paintings, because I never intend any particular outcome but rather focus on the introspective process.″  Sometimes realistic, sometimes more abstract, Joëlle′s work shows influences of Vermeer's intense color and play on light, Mucha's stylized linear design, and a more recent influence of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, where she volunteers.

Although new to Boston, Joëlle has been sharing her work with the public for over 10 years now, with a more recent desire to provide ″art for the masses,″ much in the spirit of one of her biggest influences, the Art Nouveau movement of the early 1900′s.  This brief period produced artwork based on natural forms that could be mass-produced by the technologies of the industrial age, and emphasized every detail functioning as part of a living whole. Joëlle strongly believes that good quality art should be a part of everyone′s daily life and not an elite privilege alone.  She acts on this ideal by showing locally and keeping her work affordable.

A little history on the artist will reveal that the horizons of her community were never narrow: her father is Dutch, her mother American and also an artist.  She lived in Holland until age seven and was surrounded by historic as well as trend-setting architecture and bountiful fine art museums, producing a thriving cultural awareness of the art world.  Her family moved to the Southeastern United States in 1989 for better work opportunities, and although the move was difficult for Joëlle at first, she was always able to find refuge in the creation of art as she still does today.

″When I was in high school, I spent hours in my room meticulously shading a still life, or painting narratives on my walls.  I remember later wondering what my parents were thinking to let me have free reign over those walls, but realize now that they simply figured it was essential to my development.″ - Joëlle

Joëlle′s works have been featured in many shows and exhibitions in Athens, GA where she became publicly known before graduating from UGA's department of art.  In March 2002, she was one of forty selected participants in the Art workshop at ISFIT, an expenses paid International Student Festival in Trondheim, Norway.  She received a Kiwanis Art Scholarship after placing first in a statewide juried exhibition during high school, and upon entering college she received another art scholarship, this one from the Lamar Dodd School of Art.  Currently, she is living and working in Jamaica Plain, Boston, where she will continue showing her work and furthering her development as an artist, taking advantage of the opportunities Boston has to offer.

Resume (PDF)