About

Joyce Polance is a painter working in oils.

Polance was born in New York City in 1965. She attended Wesleyan University and received a BFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has exhibited internationally and has work in many private and corporate collections. Polance is represented by Judy Ferrara Gallery in Three Oaks, MI. She may also be contacted directly for the purchase of paintings.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

For years, I’ve been pulled into the restless spaces between abstraction and representation, figures and landscape. I’ve often turned my canvases upside-down as I've worked - frequently destroying surfaces I've just painted—in order to create chaos through color, texture, and movement as a reflection of my anxious frame of mind.

At present, I find myself entering a different state of being which has arisen through a move from Chicago to Upstate New York, and a new series is revealing itself to me: portraits of my therapist. I’m painting these entirely with my fingers and hands.

 While I continue to incorporate many of the aforementioned processes, these new pieces are less tumultuous and more a depiction of connection. Indeed, when I attempt to move away from authentic representation of my subject, my hands bring me back to it – an indication that instead of being fueled by anxiety, I am painting with love. 

This current body of work also flips the traditional theme of the male gaze that has been prevalent throughout art history. I’ve chosen to portray a male muse rather than a female, and I am not attempting to render my subject as “classically beautiful,” but rather as a relatable figure of genuineness and warmth. Additionally, I am flipping the traditional patient/therapist gaze as I, the patient, explore the personality of my therapist.