Joeallen Gibson's

Artist Statement

Most of my working carrier was spent as a geologist with art always playing an important role. I have always been involved with art either as a photographer, potter or sketching geologic formation to better understand my work. A large part of my work involved developing graphic displays that describe the geologic context of a given prospect or project. I enjoyed the work until a work related accident resulted in a disability that closed the door on geologic field work and opened the door on the carrier I always wanted, being an artist.

Many of my paintings draw there inspiration from the geologic and natural world. I've termed my work GeoismÂ�, the expression of geology and the natural world using a approach of painting and sculpting earthen materials while using natives dyes (when ever possible) and natural materials in my paintings. I try to bring my study of both the large and small scale of the natural world to life in my paintings. Texture plays a big role in my work and I'm always on the look out for new texturing materials and techniques. 

As an example, there exist in nature specimens of fossils that get extremely large. However, when they are found they are so large and so heavy that displaying them is not practical due to their weight or the inability to remove the specimen from its environment without damaging the object. My ability as a multi-media artist and my understanding as a geologist allow me to bring these types of finds to life through a creative method that can be seen in my painting "Nautalistoid"ÂÂ�, a fossil known as an ammonite. Ammonites in nature occur as large as three feet or more across but when found they weigh several hundred pounds and can't be cross-sectioned due to the fact that there are no saws large enough to do the job.  Using earthen material and examples of smaller ammonites that have been cross-sectioned, I can create a representation of what the majesty of a three foot ammonite presents and in a version that can be placed on a wall and enjoyed.

My goal is bringing the beauty and presenting views of the earth in ways that challenge the viewers concept of the earth and provides them with new perspectives. The simple outline of a river becomes an impressionistic bordering on an abstract work, but it is simply the shape of a braided river. In this manner I present a simple river but with a view that changes it perspective.

I have lived in and out of Oklahoma most of my life. The many years of studying geology from Canada to New Mexico with a camera and sketch book in hand, has given me a lot of material to inspire my art, which is now the main focus of my life. I also draw inspiration from the late Russian painters of the 1,800's and early 1,900's, especially the works of Kazimer Malevich who launched the School of Suprematism and Wassily Kandinsky an early disciple of Suprematism who later became the father of abstract painting, two painters / philosophers whose works have given me much inspiration. It may be the geologist in me that is attracted to the geometric shapes that evoke so much passion in Malevich's work, or the physicist in me that finds so much stimulation from Kandinsky's ordered chaos.

I have traveled the world while working as a geologist with a camera and sketch book in hand, providing a lot of inspirational topics. This marriage of geology and art is an evolving process just as geology is and I'm excited to see where it leads.

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