My eyes are always focused. My mind is always turning. I regularly find myself lost in thought studying the elements of my environment. The sights. The sounds. The textures.
I consume everything around me. Committing it to memory so that I can sit with it for awhile before releasing it back into the world with a new identity.
What I find myself constantly drawn to is the interplay between light and texture and the human race's impact on the environment.
I love light. I love to create pieces that are as dependent on light as any other living thing on the planet. I love the way the reeds I work with interact with light to create depth and dimension on a flat surface. A once-living material, the reeds come alive again on the canvas - reflecting light, absorbing light, dancing in the light.
I love the natural world. I love to immerse myself in nature. I am fascinated by the way things grow and change over time. I am similarly fascinated by the human race's relationship with the environment and how we, as a species, actively and passively destroy the very things we need to survive. I study the way we develop land, how we harness elements like light and wind for energy, and our methods for controlling the environment.
Through all my observations one question I always find myself returning to is, why and how do we seek to restrain nature?
The reeds I work with are largely harvested from beaded curtains. The reeds themselves are physically chained together when I meet them. They are arranged neatly in strands of ascending sizes - an interesting metaphor for the way we organize the environment.
Whether in a plane looking down on rural farmlands or on foot walking along a city street, the elements of the environment become eerily similar. Crops arranged in crisp lines, roads and sidewalks creating clear paths for movement. We organize things in neat sections, compartmentalizing one thing from another. Controlling not just the elements of the natural world but how we interact with them.
This is where the creative process begins for me. The first step is to break apart the reeds - to free them from their restraints. Once freed, the reorganizing begins. Using line and shape, I abstract the paths we create, the lands we divide, and the stories we tell ourselves about the creation of the environment. Attempting to, in the simplest way, illustrate our habits.
Using a natural material, I create an artificial landscape. I create designs that look like they could be a map, and maybe they are. A map of where I've been, what I've encountered, what I've remembered.
Come along for the ride.
JOE DILL
Born and raised in northeast Ohio, Joe returned to Cleveland in 2014 after residing in Cincinnati and earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Design and Technology from Northern Kentucky University. Upon his return, Joe attended Cleveland State University to pursue his Masters Degree in Urban Planning, Design, and Development in 2016. He currently lives in the Jefferson Park neighborhood on the west side of Cleveland where he also designs and creates his work.
