We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joanne Chase-Mattillo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joanne below.

Joanne, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I began 2022 wanting to progress to what seemed to be the next step with my art pursuits. I planned for success at least on the surface through listening to affirmations. My favorite one being Rockstar affirmations available for free on YouTube. “I Am Going To Crush It in 2022 – Super-Charged Affirmations”. This was listened to with some humor and not extremely high expectations. Well, I did find in 2022 several opportunities that were unexpected; including several exhibitions in Europe where art was printed and framed or shown on screen, which meant I did not have to pay the high VAT fees of sending art overseas. This was part of my goals for the year. The biggest surprise though was while going through Instagram posts I found a project that would allow me to go even beyond exhibiting in other countries. A gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Era Contemporary presented what a was most exciting about this opportunity is that it was part of the Lunar Codex Project, a very special project partnered with SpaceX to deliver the images of art in a time capsule to be permanently affixed to the surface of the moon.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began in the early 1990’s a pursuit of photography. I was a teacher then for Los Angeles Unified School District where I taught many subjects including GED preparation, English as A Second Language, and supported students seeking a high school diploma. The beauty of nature surrounding Los Angeles was the impetus for my entrance into the field of photography. At this time I began vigorously studying photography and other art arenas to hone my skills as a visual artist. To improve my skills I went back to university classes. In 2000, I graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with a Masters of Fine Art (MFA). I am now a full-time artist. With all the other photographers I have met doing photoshoots I have found so many of us strive to be the best artists we can be. I continue to constantly improve on my skills and still find photography a major inspiration in my life. Most often my latest photography projects are the ones I am most proud of.

In addition to color and black and white film, I shoot digitally and employ the techniques of infrared imaging and enjoy creating 3D anaglyphs to be viewed with red/blue lenses. As an extension of photography, I have branched out to do videos and have a YouTube Channel, THE VIDEO ART OF JOANNE CHASE-MATTILLO where I show animated and stop action videos that I created.
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I have had the privilege to exhibit throughout California, nationally, in Korea, France and England, Switzerland, Scotland, and Greece, Spain, Germany and Japan.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I find life more synchronistic than we sometimes recognize. Yes, on the surface there is always knowledge that I would have liked to learn earlier rather than later, but most often the information needed when we allow it to happens occurs at the right time. Though knowledge achieved earlier is useful, it has to be absorbed and if ready earlier this will happen. My story is that what I needed most to learn came on my own creative timeline.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Utilizing the skills of photography has been more of a creative rather than business plan. The joy that making art gives my soul has been my major inspiration. Even when other parts of my art journey might not be ideal, taking photographs, exhibiting, and learning new techniques keep me grounded and brings joy to my daily life.  

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joannechasemattillo.com
• Instagram: @Joannemattillo
• Facebook: @Joannemattillo
• Youtube: The Video Art of Joanne Chase-Mattillo

Image Credits
All images were taken, edited and produced by Joanne Chase-Mattillo