Joy Zheng

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I graduated from Western University with a BFA with practices shifting from primarily acrylic painting to oil painting and installation works over the past few years. Drawing inspiration from Hieronymus Bosch and Salvador Dali, I create paintings with a touch of Surrealism
and “whimsical”-like quality. Additionally, I pursued a dual degree with the Ivey School of Business which translated into an interest in critiquing the systemic issues behind capitalism in some of my work. These days I'm working on creating large scale oil & acrylic paintings with a new found love of using paint markers.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

As an artist, I seek to challenge the perspectives in which we view ourselves in relation to the world around us by communicating these ideas through installation and painting. I’m fascinated by how we perceive the world, and the search for truth behind what we deem to be real and what we deem to be fabricated. Some of my work focuses on this concept of a falsified utopia in a dystopian world fueled by the dark side of human nature, tainted by selfishness, greed, and sin. Prevalent in my previous work, I explore themes of wealth disparity and the consequences of the system built to function in favour of those in power. Following this, I'm creating work that comments on consumerism and the materialistic society that we indulge in, bringing to light the issues behind our current economic and political systems, exposing the impact of harmful actions that seem harmless on the surface and how we are all inevitably accountable. More recently, my work has taken a lighter direction with themes of personal self reflection and nostalgia. Holistically, I’m interested in questioning social constructs and exploring what is inherent human nature and what is conditioned.