Why Art?

I don’t really know; I think art chose me. It gave me purpose at school when other subjects were difficult. My art teacher wrote on my last school report ‘Joy has a natural flair for art and could excel’.

Why clothing labels?
Experimentation has always driven my work and it was a Consumer Culture project that I was set whilst studying GNVQ Art & Design in 2000 that introduced me to gathering clothing labels. I set my own brief which involved sourcing objects and belongings at sales and second-hand shops. Some of these were clothes that I later dissected, saving the labels. Jumble sales were popular in our house growing up as my mother was a Keep Fit teacher and she was always raising money for the Association.

Second hand is therefore an area that I am familiar with and I suppose it has filtered into my art work. I have always loved searching for an individual garment in a second hand or vintage shop, I also prefer second hand ornaments, old furniture and old houses that can tell a story. My first car was a 1969 Triumph Herald 1360 Convertible in bright red.

Found objects that I have manipulated include floor boards, wardrobes, wallpaper, shoes, wooden and metal ornaments, toy soldiers, buttons, all manner of clothing including nylon tights and bra fasteners. I have cut, unpicked, pinned, stacked, arranged, dissected, chopped, mashed, melted, burnt, taken objects on journeys, made a suit from an old pair of curtains, and grown grass in a knitted cardigan. The work for my MA Fine Art involved manipulating 30,000 used garments and producing 31 installation sculptures.

However, it was the success of my work with clothing labels that helped to evolve my practice. The first three pieces that I assembled were selected and exhibited in Open Art Competitions and all three went on to win prizes. The prize money paid towards the development of my website and I worked behind the scenes for a few years developing my technique. Once I had something to show I wrote to fashion designer Paul Smith, a week later I resigned from my Civil Servant desk job to work on his commission ‘Red Rabbit’.

Perhaps art is important to me because when I left school, I wasn’t allowed to go to art college, perhaps it’s important because I enjoy chasing collaborators to bring an exciting project together, or perhaps it’s the thrill of seeing my work exhibited at The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. What I do know is that trial and error, freedom to experiment, risk taking, planning, collaborating, and realising that worthwhile things are difficult to do are all still part of my journey.