Artist Statement and bio
Joanna Poulson is a Tarntanya/Adelaide-based visual artist. Working in the tonal realist tradition, her oil paintings of the garden and flowering plants explore the beauty and vibrancy of nature.
Her process is rooted in the act of close and patient observation of floral forms. The artist works from photographs, documenting her studio garden in bloom, capturing snapshots that frame details with a compelling reverence.
Poulson translates the composition to canvas, scaling the work to draw viewers’ attention to the complex formal qualities of flowers – petals, calyx, leaves, stamen – through the precision of brushwork and subtle interplay of colours. In the compositions, sharply focused foregrounds give way to soft, out-of-focus background which incorporate both figurative and abstract elements.
Capturing the fall of light and shadow of snapdragons, ranunculi, euphorbia, zinnia and kalanchoe, and begonia – amongst other varieties – the artist achieves precision and a faithful impression through the studious application of paint. In layering the canvas surface using a flat brush blending technique, Poulson builds a tonal richness in her paintings. The resulting art works evoke a sense of rapture.
Associate Degree in Visual Art in 2008 – Adelaide Central School of Art
2023 Offerings from my Garden, Gitanjali, Walkerville
2002 Spring on the Strand, The Strand Gallery, Port Elliot
2021 The Girls are Back in Town, The Strand Gallery, Port Elliot
2020 Open Studio Exhibition, SALA Solo Show, Prospect
2020 Limited Access, SALA Group Show, Calvary Hospital, North Adelaide
2020 Blurry Botanicals, The Strand Gallery, Port Elliot
2019 Saatchi The Other Art Fair, Melbourne
2022 Kennedy Art Prize – Finalist
2022 Omnia Art Prize – Finalist
2017 Emma Hack Art Prize – Finalist
2013 City of Whyalla Art Prize – Finalist
2012 Bald Clanger Portrait Prize – First Prize
2012 & 2007 Adelaide Cathedral Art Show – First Prize
Her projects have been supported by the City of Prospect and the Helpmann Academy.
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