Melissa Joseph discovered felting during the pandemic, which was love at first sight. She uses a variety of media in her work, including ceramics, paper, textiles, felting, stone carving, and encaustic. Her work tells the stories of family and culture.
How did you find yourself on an artist’s path? Always there? Lightbulb moment? Dragged kicking and screaming? Evolving?
I was always a maker, but was always told it wasn’t a real job and that I had to do it “on the side.” It took a long time to overcome that narrative and fully pursue art as my career, but I am so glad I did.
Why fiber? Why felting? How did you get started?
I always loved crafts from a young age because my mom made them, and since my dad was from India, we always had beautiful fabrics around us. I grew up in a small midwestern town, before the internet, and so we filled our time differently. I made things with whatever was around.
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When I got older and started to pursue the arts, I always felt comfortable working with textiles because they were familiar, but I didn’t discover felting until the pandemic. It was love at first sight with felting.
What different creative media do you use in your work?
I use ceramics, paper, textiles, felting, stone carving and encaustic. I also use found objects to house images I make with felt.
Is there an overarching theme that connects all of your work?
The overarching theme is my family history and archive. I feel that I am called to preserve these stories for posterity.
How does your environment influence your creativity?
I live in the city now, so my studio is small. When I was in Texas, earlier this year doing a residency at ArtPace San Antonio, my studio was massive so my work grew bigger than it had ever been before.
Does your creative work come easily or do you struggle with your ideas?
A little of both. Studio can be painful or wonderful. It’s a microcosm of the rest of life, where there are lots of ups and downs. The ups make it worth the downs.
Do you have a dedicated space for creating? If so, what does it look like?
Yes, I have a studio that I love and is my happy place. It is about 400 sq feet, and has a big felting table in the middle and full of wool, found objects and art by friends.
Working across many different media, how do you organize all of your creative supplies?
OOOF! This is not my strong suit. I wish someone would sneak in while I was away and organize everything. Haha.
Do you plan your work out ahead of time, or do you just dive in with your materials and start playing?
I work intuitively, so I just dive in and if it goes sideways, I have to figure out a solution.
Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?
I just made a series of works that were embedded in tires because I was collaborating with an artist named Kim Dacres who works with that material. It was nice to think of ways we could share our stories and materials.
How does your formal art education help your work develop? Does it ever get in the way?
I am glad for any education I have had, formally and informally. I think it all helps us to understand how we fit into the conversation. But I am not afraid to challenge any of those ideas. The more I live, the less I know.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Art is about the long game. Keep going!
Where can people see your work?
My work is up at the Brooklyn Museum at the Brooklyn Artists Exhibition. In January, I will have a show at Praise Shadows gallery in Boston with the artist Julia Norton, and in March I will have a show at Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto with Hangama Amiri. This summer I will have some public works in Brooklyn with UOVO and the Brooklyn Museum. I am excited to share them with everyone.
Learn more about Melissa:
www.melissajoseph.net / @melissajoseph_art (IG)
Interview posted December 2024
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