"Throughout this body of work, I am exploring domestic interiors and the landscape in response to a new relationship with the everyday that emerged due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, I am capturing subjects that are ubiquitous and personal as I investigate fleeting aspects of everyday life that can be difficult to see and appreciate.
"Moving imagery can be an art. The imagery reflects my visual activities, and the relationship between imagination and visual activities produces a multi-layered world of symbolism. The shape and color represent symbols of abstraction and transformation.
I make movements with small objects and liquid around me. I capture frame-by-frame images with a DSLR camera and a digital microscope. You can taste the rhythm and beat of shape and color in movements."
"My elementary school teacher, Ms. Fry made a passing comment that has kept with me. She said that we will never really know who we are and will spend a lifetime searching for who we are. I doubt that she thought much of such a statement - but it lodged in my mind permanently. My artwork is a constant search for self from my early crayon-colored rocks to today’s fine art photographic work. My art is my way of attempting to understand myself and the world around me."
This work is from a group of drawings that collectively explore the concept of moving. Unbeknown to the viewer is whether or not occupants of these interior spaces are packing or unpacking; coming or going. Will that unpacked box of books collecting dust on the top shelf of our bedroom closet ever reach its destination; will it ever be unpacked?
Adapting to being in my body and being led by not just my eyes, but all the senses has provided me a path to experiencing the world purely and thoroughly. In a gallery, walking down the street, or tromping around in the wilderness- I began the practice of emptying my mind of language and filling it with light and air.
“As an artist I have always felt my task is not to create meaning, but to charge the air so that meaning can occur.” – Todd Hido
"I work predominantly in mixed-media paintings, drawings, and artist's books. My studio practice takes a meditative focus to explore relationships between drawing, piano, and Cantonese. Born and raised in Hong Kong, I listened to a variety of music and languages; I value freedom and creativity. My research interests focus on incorporating as many voices and ways of mark-making as possible to form a body of work.
Joe Morzuch is an observational painter currently residing in Starkville, MS. In addition to his studio work, which deals primarily with the still life and self-portrait, he is an Assistant Professor at State University. In 2006 he received his MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He has taught at the college level for nearly 20 years, teaching courses in foundations, drawing, and painting. His work has been exhibited nation-wide and abroad.