joyce metayer | artist's statement | vita

SUNRISE This is a temple to sunrise. The sun is "birthed" above through the winged feminine V, and the landscape below is constructed into the temple entrance that disappears into infinite distance. This piece speaks about those moments in nature that feel, and truly are, so sacred. 21" Wide x 39" High x 6" Deep

Joyce Metayer: Artist's Statement My work is about bringing archetypal concepts into form. I feel I can do that most strongly by creating wall reliefs that are paintings, sculptures and multi-layered symbols combined. I call them Sculptural Archetypes. There was a eureka moment in 1972 when I saw in my mind's eye the first piece and knew that this was to be my life's work. Images would come to me, and I knew they had important meaning for me, but in the beginning I knew nothing of their universality. It wasn't until I read the work of anthropologist Marija Gimbutas, who decipered Paleolithic feminine symbolism, that I understood my work was connected with the past through ancient symbology. Much of my work is in a circular format since the circle is one of the great primordial images. I feel I am creating Sculptural Archetypes that have an ageless quality about them since they honor the past, explore significant symbolism in the present, and suggest the future. As a young artist I was fascinated by the constructed work of Lee Bontecou and Louise Nevelson. Later I was so excited by Georgia O'Keeffe's work. Eventually I encountered and was very moved by Judy Chicago's work. Ideas often come to me like holograms..in space. After clarifying the initial sketch, I enlarge it to actual size from which I draft the patterns…a very exacting, mathematical process. Then I construct the piece…or sometimes just parts of it…out of paper to verify the shapes. Next, I work out the color plan, and paint the canvas by glazing with many layers of thinned acrylic paint. Color is so important. It needs to describ the concept. Since every shade of every color has a different vibration…it has to be the one shade that expresses what I want to say. Lastly, I construct each piece by sewing the painted shapes together and then stretch it on it's wooden support. Since each finished work takes at least 2 months to complete, I have usually developed quite a relationship with the individual pieces and the whole that they become as well as the archetype they represent by the time a finished piece is stretched.