Location: United States
I have made art all my life and have been making small dioramas since childhood. I try to capture emotional moments and give people the opportunity to feel those emotions as an eavesdropping observer. I draw them into a scenario with humorous figures and when looked at closely I present more serious topics, from mental illness, loneliness, addiction or just a moment of poignancy. (See "Bye bye, Bipolar Bears by Joan Matey" on YOU TUBE videos.) I enjoy the challenges of construction and work with a myriad of materials.
This is a small sampling of the different art mediums I work with, which include small dioramas using polymer clay for figures, prismcolor pencil drawings, and costumes made from many different materials
“Fishy Fashions & Lantern Fest”
I also created two events for my rural coastal community of Carrabelle in the Florida panhandle.Lantern Fest celebrates the first lighting in 1895 of our local lighthouse. It yearly features theater, dance Celtic music, ancient craft demonstrations, good food and a lantern for each year of the Lighthouse's age. Illuminated Lantern ladies stroll the park and Moth Man flutters about attracted to all the lights
The Fishy Fashion Show adds pageantry to our small town's annual Riverfront Festival. I created over two dozen costumes and characters from oyster sacks, sponges, torn sails, abandoned beach umbrellas and chairs and shells and other flotsam and jetsam. Please Like on Facebook:The Fishy Fashion Show by Joan Matey.
This shows the process of how the Fishy Fashion costumes are made.I occasionally collaborate with other artists, and for each show, members of the community are invited to be the models
“Color Rampage”
“Nitty Gritty in the City”
“The Abuse of WomenThru History”
“Legionnaire de Mer”
