Joy Cotton | Creative Mind and Emotions
I like to stare off into space often and see what I can find.
Kind of like when you rub your eyes too hard and see the floating squiggly shapes migrate away as you regain vision.
I am constantly in search of new shapes and figures.
It is hard to focus on one thing in open spaces.
I want to see and know what is going on around me at all times.
It's all curiosity:
What is your story?
What is happening in your mind?
Do you feel ok?
A bit Strange?
Are you Alright?
Sometimes a change of location helps me reconnect with myself,
outside of myself.
But it doesn’t last for long. I am noticing too much all at once, and now the music is too loud.
It is still an accomplishment though, ordering a chai Latte from a face I will never see again.
They couldn't be judging me in that instant.
Don’t think about it.
Time to go back home to seclusion, but it is a better space, with familiar faces.
Just for a moment but I will need to remain in my mind for one more hour.
One more hour turns into three.
It's 2:00 a.m. and there is still nothing to look at through the window, the streetlights are too bright and the clouds are too dense.
Let us visit the deep trenches of our minds and think.
Overthink.
Rethink.
Breathe.
I remember when I couldn’t brush my hair.
I remember when all the lights were on me, and it was time to read.
I remember when it didn't matter as much.
I know it doesn’t matter as much.
It shouldn't matter as much.
But it does.
Inner Monologue:
I attended a symphony at the Holland Center where a performance by Kaneko & Akiho was showcased. The sounds and visuals somehow spoke to me as an artist, and what it meant to be a creator.
I spent most of the performance thinking about how art can hold different meanings to anyone who sees or listens to it. How different practices could be inter-webbed.
Jun Kaneko is a world-renowned ceramicist and Andy Akiho is a multi-talented composer. Seeing how their work came together and orchestrated through sound took me aback. I enjoyed the tranquil sounds that vibrated from the instruments.
My focus changed as the projections displayed a video of Jun Kaneko hitting a Dongo with a timpani mallet to create a reverberated-like sound.
A sculpture becomes an instrument.
This had me AWE struck
I thought about how there are no limitations to what an artist could create when introduced to a collaborative process.
Collaborating with other artists is like finding a partner.
Searching for someone you trust to create a visual masterpiece together. An experience where artist meets artist.
It takes time to feel comfortable.
Sharing your working process with another and having the trust to tie it all together is one of many hurdles that come along.
Creating connection in collaboration.
I like to focus on visual ideas and emotions. My initial thought for collaborations would be to find someone who also creates 2-Dimensional art.
Although doing that can create limitations to the meaning and the work then becomes one-dimensional. I have been trying to step out of my comfort zone and work outside of my general mediums by creating open dialogue and starting conversations.
Talking.
I want to learn how to create a voice and hear others' thoughts and emotions about important experiences which can later translate into an art form. Doing this has changed my artistic perspective and created a new focus on emotions outside of my own.
Compassion.
What do your thoughts look like?
Feel like?
Sound like?
After the performance, I felt as though I had some type of epiphany.
Maybe I learned something that would help keep me from stalling my work. My biggest halt is defining what I create and the mediums I use. It is constantly changing, as am I.
What continues to stop me is when I am asked “What is your medium?” “What do you do?”
I feel as though there is no concrete answer, art has a broad range of expertise and practices that are more than just a painting and sculpture. Art becomes a science and a form of philosophy.
When complete what meaning does it hold? Will it read the same to the viewer?
Art itself creates questions that do not always hold definitive answers. Creating a piece every day can become more of a task rather than a purposeful experience. Finding a purpose for artwork is a mission in itself.
I never have a precise answer to what I create other than (mixed media).
That is what my art is, mixed colors, textures, and subject formats.
I don't have one ideal explanation, just a process, and visual experiences.
I stare at a blank canvas as my mind buzzes and my pupils shake.
I want to feel the threadings of the fabric covered in gesso—wet paint and what happens when I mix it with a complementary color.
Can I create a new color?
Am I the only one who can see these colors?
What would these colors taste like?
Smell like?
Sound like?
Feel?
Look like?
The impatience of waiting for the paint to dry, and continuing to add on to the piece until I am inevitably unsatisfied…
So I can continue the process again.
Again.
again.
Joy Cotton is a mixed media artist living in Omaha. Joy uses a combination of pencil, acrylic, oil to create paintings and murals. She creates pieces that hold a great significance to personal emotions, like happiness, sadness, anger, and depression. The characters she makes depict different forms of fantasy and realistic figure drawings. These works contain multiple layers of textures and different types of painting applications. A graduate of University of Nebraska at Omaha Joy often works with other artists and organizations within the Omaha arts community. For the past two years she has worked on projects with Omaha Summer Arts Festival (OSAF), Benson First Fridays (BFF), and Midtown Crossing Sunny Chair project. Interacting, building relationships and collaborating with innovative individuals has shown her the interconnectedness of the art community. Through these interactions, observations, and personal projects she has continued to define and develop her artistry.