“I speak for those of you who don’t yet know the words, who’ve lost your tongues, who have not found your voice, who are afraid to tell your stories; fearful they may be too telling.” Joanna Freuh, Mouthpiece
As humans, we live in a state of dynamic, conflicting emotions. In moments of pain we experience joy and in moments of joy we have sorrow. I celebrate the contradictions and dynamism of the joy and sadness of life. Just like the word “lovely,” which we may use to describe everything from a wedding ceremony to a funeral service, life is an indefinable experience. It fluctuates, never remaining in one moment or emotion for long. This dynamism creates the complexity of life, the beauty of life, and the path of life. As Joanna Freuh says, “life is sloppy” and, as an artist, I celebrate, question, and reveal beauty in the sloppiness of our lives.
My major bodies of work have explored: the daily intimacy of lovers, the place of the bed, a powerful locale in our daily life, the space that can grow between long time lovers, the repetition of parenthood & the psychological landscape of the domestic space. We experience our most intimate moments of vulnerability, love, passion, sadness, and weakness within our domestic relationships and this is where my work is built and inspired. My image-based work explores the physical space and experience of these relationships while my text-based works explore the complicated emotions that reside within intimacy and identity. My graphite drawings allow me to zoom in on the importance of the small, possibly insignificant objects of domesticity and focus on their texture, tones and detail, abstracting their meaning and role while simultaneously elevating them. My photographs act as documents and proof of these lives and relationships.
My studio practices involve labor-intensive techniques that force me to work slowly, meticulously, and daily on my work. The finished work becomes a map of my daily life through the slow stitching and drawing or photographing of images and words. Though the autobiographical drives the work and is necessary for it to exist, ultimately it is transcended, enabling the viewers to have their own independent relationship to the work.
I do not live under extraordinary circumstances. I am an artist/human who has both flaws and fears and also strengths and hopes. Through the depiction of these characteristics, I invite the viewer to relate to and connect with my work, the artist, and the subject of human experience.
About Joetta Maue
Joetta Maue is an artist, curator, and arts writer. Her most recent body of work is a series of embroideries, drawings and photographs that explore the conflicts and contradictions that exist within intimacy and the domestic space. Joetta’s work resides within the realm of the everyday, everyday objects, autobiography, and the female. She is especially interested in the role of personal relationships in our lives, seen in our most intimate moments and spaces.
Joetta received her BFA from The Ohio State University and her MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Joetta’s work has been shown throughout galleries and museums across the country and internationally. Joetta authored the well known studio blog Little Yellowbird as well as being a regular contributor to a number of journals and a freelance curator. She has been featured in the books Indie Craft and PUSH Stitchery and the journals Needle Magazine, Fiber Arts Now Magazine, Martha Stewart Living and the Surface Design Association Journal. She is a Lecturer and an invited instructor at a number of programs and institutions across the country. Joetta lives in New England with her family.
Visiting Artist Workshop: Drawing with Thread
December 15 and December 16
9:00am – 4:00pm
Come explore basic embroidery techniques and how to apply them to “drawings” using direct drawing, transfer and projection. This will be both a technical skills class and an idea development class. We will discuss stitch, color and materials choices while learning and exploring traditional techniques of drawing such as contour, and hatching through the stitch. This is a great class for beginners up to advanced students in embroidery. We will go over all the basics but all the conceptual and drawing skills can be applied to any skill level. More information and registration here.