Joyce Ann Burton-Sousa

People face challenges, and they struggle. The faces of this struggle have become the focus of my art since the death of my life-long partner. My role is a facilitator, bringing forth each person; a process that claims my attention and demands hon...

People face challenges, and they struggle. The faces of this struggle have become the focus of my art since the death of my life-long partner. My role is a facilitator, bringing forth each person; a process that claims my attention and demands honesty in its deliverance. I do not know these people. I do not recognize them… but I do recognize something in them. They are the faces of people striving to define themselves and share their stories. When I begin, the final form is unknown, yet each piece of work has a clear point of completion. I know when I have rendered what was needed, and the piece stands on its own. The work of honest portrayal has pushed me to my current mixed media technique. I seek a rich texture worthy of these voices. My focus is the people, their struggles, and the imperfections that inevitably emerge. I cannot not make this art. I assemble pieces, striving towards a meaningful whole: reflecting how the subjects repeatedly cobble together lives from disparate parts. The energy of my process, and the urgency I feel in its creation, animates the art–demanding a similar return from the viewer. Approach: Always an artist in various media, I began painting late in life and have little regard for restrictions on the creative process. Art represents freedom. I am, for the most part, self-taught, and strive to preserve my own artistic vision. I want to show, not just the artwork, but the creative process that occurs. Creating is a very personal endeavor and a space for me to represent my own perspective. By sharing my interior process in an honest way, I hope for an interactive connection with the viewer. When I succeed, I shorten the distance between creator and observer and between the piece and the person experiencing it. Texture is my passion. To keep the rich surface that I create accessible, I incorporate the frame into the artwork. It is a piece that remains exposed—providing the opportunity to witness and revisit the steps in the creative process.