* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Joyce Polance is an artist from Chicago, IL who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology of New York.
Joyce explains her work by saying, “I depict subjects who are in various states of emergence from patterns that have had a negative impact on their lives, often a past inability to experience support and nurturing through traditional families. Instead, support is found through friendships and other peer relationships. The most recent pieces explore the complexities that ensue as women engage in relationships that speak both to their original and their new (or substitute) families. My paintings explore a range of emotions such as tenderness, sexual tension, jealousy, sadness, and anger – suggesting that even in a transformed world, life is messy. Both the large scale of the figures and the thick, layered application of paint are meant to create an arresting visual presence echoing the internal strength of the figures. I paint the women naked to suggest their willingness to change and be vulnerable, while simultaneously embracing their sexuality and bodies. The women take ownership of both their femininity and their power. My objective is to challenge the viewers to question their own assumptions about strength, beauty and intimacy.”
