LandE scape
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
LandEscape meets
Joanne Gravelin
An interview by Katherine Williams , curator and Josh Ryder , curator landescape @ europe . com
Artist Joanne Gravelin ' s work inquires in to the relationship between Man and Environment to draw the viewers through a multilayered journey . In her body of works that we ' ll be discussing in the following pages she captures non sharpness with an universal language , to discuss the consequences of human presence . One of the most impressive aspects of Gravelin ' s work is the way it accomplishes the difficult task of questioning contemporary visualization practice that intends to draw the viewers into an immersive , intense visual experience : we are very pleased to introduce our readers to her stimulating and multifaceted artistic production .
Hello Joanne and welcome to LandEscape : before starting to elaborate about your artistic production would you like to tell us something about your background ? You have a solid formal training : after having graduated from Mount Mansfield Union HS , Jericho , you nurtured your education with a BFA of Printmaking , that you received from the Maine College of Art , Portland . How do your studies influence your evolution as an artist ? And in particular , how does your cultural substratum inform the way you relate yourself to art making and to the aesthetic problem in general ?
Thank you so much for including me in the issue . I feel an important part in my upbringing artistically is growing up in the middle of the woods . Being surrounded by nature inspired me even as a child and it really shaped my becoming a landscape artist . A lot of my work has an undertone of a sublime landscape and that is definitely a direct influence of living in serene wilderness for the first half of my life . My first home was surrounded by nine acres of untouched woods and I spent many hours exploring . My relationship with the forrest is that of many great writers where it is a place for contemplation and opening up to your inner most thoughts .
The Maine College of Art was a wonderful experience in challenging my ideas and leading to many of my main concepts . I had an amazing collection of professors supporting and encouraging me to push my work visually and conceptually . I first started exploring my ideas about man ’ s interaction with landscape there . I began focusing on abandoned spaces , specifically , abandoned beach resorts . For me these places created such wonder and awe . A tropical setting taken over by remnants of past vacations and manufactured luxury was spectacular . This theme stuck with me for most of my college career and I consider it my grand take on the