Why choosing joy is a radical act in art
I often say that I choose joy, not as a fleeting feeling, but as a radical act of resistance. To me, joy is not naïve or frivolous. It’s not the gloss that hides hardship. Joy is a deliberate choice to notice beauty, embrace humor, and create meaning in a world that can feel heavy with loss, responsibility, and contradiction.
For my art, joy is both the starting point and the end goal, a lens through which I filter all of life’s complexities.
The weight we carry
We all carry things: memories, histories, hardships, traditions. They shape the way we move through the world and color the way we see. My work explores how those layers – sometimes bright, sometimes burdensome – overlap and refract in the same way resin and oil paint catch the light. The work is often rooted in contradiction: joy alongside struggle, laughter alongside grief. To honor both sides is important, but I choose to let joy take the lead. That choice, for me, is radical.
The light that refracts
I am endlessly drawn to light, as both a visual element and as an abstract metaphor. In my oil and resin paintings, refractive light allows colors to remain luminous, layered, and alive. It is a reminder that no matter how heavy the subject matter or how many layers accumulate, there is always light breaking through. Choosing joy transforms how we see, changes what might feel dull or dark, and awakens a new vibrancy within us.
Humor as healing
This philosophy carries over into my illustrated book, Chickenisms: The Art of the Pecking Order. Chickens have expressive body language, and through them I find ways to poke fun at the power struggles and absurdities I experience in everyday human life. The book is full of playful puns and drawings, but underneath is a deeper belief that humor is medicine. We could cry ourselves to sleep over the things we cannot control – or we could laugh, create, and carry on. Joy, here, is not shallow. It is the balm that makes the load bearable.
Art that connects
I’ve seen firsthand how joy disarms barriers. Through Jumpstart Art, my mobile art workshop inside Freddie the Bus, children who may struggle in other environments find freedom when handed a paintbrush, some clay, or a glue stick. Families come together over crafts that let them laugh and make a mess together. And in community settings, choosing joy through creative expression becomes a way to process pain without erasing it.
Choosing joy, again and again
To live in joy is not to deny sorrow. It is to honor its place while not letting it write the whole story. My art exists at the intersection of beauty and pain, where layers of color, texture, and memory collide. And in every layer, I have made a decision to keep choosing joy.
In a world that rewards cynicism, consumption, and speed – joy becomes radical. It slows us down, softens us, and invites us to see things from a different perspective. It is resistance, renewal, and rebirth. And in my art, joy is the light that shifts through every layer, asking only that we choose to see it.
