My work is grounded in a visceral response to current events, be they personal, political, cultural, or imagined. The creative process helps me examine contradiction and bias sometimes through formal relationships and sometime through literal juxtapositions. By situating a personal experience within a grand narrative through language, iconography, and gestural fields of color, I engage with cultural memory to explore ideas of power and place.

Exhibitions include The National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Center for Book and Paper at Columbia College, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Center for Book Arts (NY), and Nexus Press in Atlanta. Examples of my work are held in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Center for Book and Paper at Columbia College, Indiana University East, Penland School of Crafts, and locally at Dominion, Capital One, The Quirk Hotel, and Try-Me.

Southern Folklore is fascinating to me – all that remorse and regret. The vernacular drawn from culture clashes and close communities isolated in the hills and the hollers is a rich backdrop to study the human condition. Language is at the core of my process and appears frequently in my work. Call and response; adapt or die.

I have worked primarily in education for 30 years including a 15-year stint as a ski instructor. I have taught and held leadership positions at the high school, community college, university, and community program levels. I'm currently with Richard Bland College of William & Mary developing the strategic plan through 2025.

Thanks for your interest in my work. Contact me @ ajoyaux@verizon.net. To follow my meanderings, check out my Instagram page or facebook.