Artist's Statement

Joan Fitzsimmons

All images are archival Inkjet print either 33in w. 22in h. or 22in w. 33in h.

Some reflections on the aging process:

It does not always come suddenly. Sometimes I think we die in bits & pieces, a few teeth gone missing, strands of hair down the drain, a knee lies buried in that boneyard, the definitions of features fade into a ghostly palimpsest of the past.

Recovery after my recent knee surgery was lengthy and activity limited. When changing my dressings, I became fascinated with the marks, the indentations, colors and form that had appeared on my leg, lost in minute details. Noting the relationship to painting, a medium I had studied early in my art education, I began to photograph. My only regret is that I did not begin a week earlier when the color was much more expansive and intense. sThis (literal) body of work resulted in a series, “The Healing Arts”. The thought process did not end there.

Art is the barometer by which I measure life. Colorations after recent surgery, the wayward movement of line, the shifting stain of marks, paint the body and define understanding.