Biography:

Joanna Booth is a multi-media textile artist and printmaker from Philadelphia, PA. Currently based in Providence, her work explores themes of home, social narrative, memory and identity. She received her BFA in Studio Art and Black Studies from Amherst College (‘19) and completed a MFA in Printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design (‘24). Joanna has exhibited work across New England and Philadelphia and attended the Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) Post Graduate Apprenticeship, the Wassaic Project Artist Residency, the Hambidge Center for Art and Science Residency, and the Arrowmont School of Craft Winter Pentaculum. Joanna currently is an Adjunct Lecturer at Brown University and a Visiting Lecturer at Amherst College. Joanna most recently had her first solo show at the AS220 Aborn Gallery in Providence this past February.

Artist Statement:

As a Black and Queer artist, I believe that my experiences are precious and I aim to convey them with authenticity and candor. There is resistance in being honest about our stories and life’s experiences. To achieve this, my practice is influenced by a series of internal questions, which help guide me in being reflective in my work. I consider the tension between my personal experience and universal experience. The personal is represented by portraiture, places, objects, and specific social interactions. The universal is embodied in abstractions that contain a familiar sentiment, rendering them relatable.

Working within the two distinct aesthetics of the representational and the abstract allows me to create both concrete and imaginative imagery. By placing these separate aesthetics together, I offer some of myself and leave room for the viewer to see themselves in the work.

My work seeks to explore themes of preservation and how I, as an artist, can document and solidify my personal and familial stories. I use a variety of mediums to realize my concepts including, printmaking, textiles, sculpture and ceramics. My use of materials vary as I experiment with different methods of communicating narratives. Woodcut printmaking in particular allows me to talk about current issues as they relate to loss and discontinuity. I choose to use woodcut as my primary and foundational medium particularly when discussing change as it invites the viewer to feel those feelings of loss as well.