We were lucky to catch up with Nancy Hilliard Joyce recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nancy, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have worked on several projects over the last decade that are extremely meaningful to me. I paint in order to connect with the outside world. I connect with the outside world through philanthropic efforts and collaborations with non-profits. My art is my activism. My passion translated into a higher purpose for the first time in 2011 and it was that same year when I began multiple partnerships with non-profit organizations. A percent of each sold painting is now designated to a non-profit. One of my most meaningful collaborations was in 2015 when I partnered with Lotus Pedals, a subsidiary of Lotus Outreach International. I painted over 30 paintings of girls, bikes, and women with umbrellas. I gave over 20% to Lotus Pedals and at the end of the year, I traveled to Cambodia and delivered over 250 bikes to young, underprivileged girls so they could safely get from their villages to their schools.

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

I was born in Greenville, SC in 1972. At the age of sixteen, I was accepted into the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. I earned her BA in Art History from Wofford College and my MA in Art Education from the University of New Mexico. For over 10 years I lived in Manhattan and New Jersey as a working artist. For 5 years I worked out of my home studio in Atlanta, Georgia. From 2012 – 2017, I served on the Board of Trustees at the Asheville Art Museum and was an active member of the River Arts District Association in Asheville, NC. Today, I am a board member of The Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Foundation as well as The Cabarrus Arts Council board. I work as the art curator for boutique hotels located throughout the southeast and regularly produce large-scale commission work for public spaces. I am passionate about giving back to the environment, women, and children in need and use my art as a platform to raise money for charity and non-profit organizations.

I currently live and create out of my home studio located in Concord, NC. Here, I paint recurrent themes of flowers gone to seed and flight patterns of birds which illuminate her fascination with the observation of nature and time. In my most current exploration, I journeys through the creation of abstracted and untrammeled garden settings peppered with botanicals and freedom-filled bird imagery. Within these mixed media pieces, you may notice touches of gold leaf, graphite drawings, delicate ink markings, elements of collage, or details of hand-painted images in both oils and acrylic.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Beyond the hands of a clock, time acts as a recurring thread within my paintings. The irreversible succession of time influences nature, personal growth, and seasons as they move between the changes from life to death. Within these themes, I have always been drawn to the beauty and power of the natural world. The shapes and forms I paint are a testament to the intricate and extraordinary design of the ecosystems around us. I observe nature through the exploration of acrylic paint, soft pastels, water soluble graphite, stitching and oftentimes gold or silver leaf. I work with these materials and stand as a witness to the marking of time as the sun creates shadows of foliage on my canvas like a sundial.

The passing of time has brought with it both beauty and destruction to our land, and it is this combined harmony and tension that I strive to capture. I intentionally use negative space within my work to amplify a sense of balance and movement which magnifies both absence and presence within a piece. Intertwining hints of nature with depth-filled negative space, I aim to explore the essence of the biodiversity within and around the southeast and the ways in which it shapes our understanding of ourselves and our place within it.

It is my goal to create atmospheric work that allows others to experience the beauty and wonder of our land, while also raising awareness about the urgent need to protect it.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Artists can support artists, feeding the creative system and encouraging the prolific works of each other.       

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nancyjoycegallery.com/
• Instagram: @NancyJoyceArt
• Facebook: @NancyJoyceArt
• Linkedin: Nancy Hilliard Joyce
• Twitter: @NancyJoyceArt
• Youtube: @NancyJoyceArt

Image Credits
Nancy Hilliard Joyce owns all rights to these uploaded photos.