Joy’s photography and mixed media works demonstrate a palpable and authentic connection to place. Having familial links to Savannah and the Lowcountry has had a considerable influence on what she gravitates towards capturing in her art. Her family were stewards of Callawassie Island: agricultural laborers, hunters and fisherman, proud domestic women and family caregivers. This visual library that was introduced to her is the place she conjures inspiration from, it is the witness of water and land as a conduit to sustenance, stability, wonderment and peace.
She also belongs to a generation when image making had become more accessible to the masses through the introduction of the Brownie, the Polaroid and Super 8mm. She was exposed to a visual world through a creative and enthusiastic family — chance storytellers who valued the provenance that photographic images afforded them. It imprinted upon her the importance of preservation through a creative relationship to culture, place, expression and memory.
As a youth, Joy was drawn to the visual sophistication that dominated music, film, fashion and magazine culture. The well of inspiration was deep, from the provocative content of Andy Warhol’s 15 Minutes to the seductive masthead of The FACE magazine. She was enticed by the seemingly boundless marriage of all mediums through graphic design. While a portion of Joy’s work embraces the pure form and effectiveness of photography unadorned, her art is also informed by her design background. Using bright colors and polished surfaces contrasted against the soft focus and abstraction of images, the work encourages the viewer to examine the fracture and harmony of the traditional and the modern.
A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in Graphic Design, Joy is the owner of the Photopoint Gallery in Richmond Hill, Georgia, and a member of the KOBO Gallery Artist Cooperative. She has participated in several group exhibitions at the Photopoint Gallery and Arts on the Coast Gallery (Richmond Hill, Ga.), SouthxSoutheast Gallery (Modena, Ga), Artfields (Lake City, S.C.), and the Location Gallery, Sulfur Studios and Telfair Museums (Savannah, Ga.).
She is an active board member with the Ossabaw Island Foundation, Coastal Empire Habitat for Humanity, The Savannah Traffic Club and Arts on the Coast.
Joy is also owner and principal creative at JOY Marketing.
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2024 - Summer Gallery Exhibition - Ossabaw Island Foundation
2024 - ‘Ossabaw Outtakes’, Location Gallery
2024 - ‘Flowers’, SouthxSoutheast Photogallery
2024 - ‘Art in Bloom’, Arts on the Coast
2024 - ‘Same As it Ever Was’, Sulfur Studios/Arts Southeast
2024 - Kobo Gallery Artist Cooperative Member
2023 - ArtNite/Holiday Edition, Arts on the Coast Gallery
2023 - Holiday Opening benefitting Ossabaw Island Foundation, Kobo Gallery
2023 - ‘Holiday Artist Collective’ - Annual group show at Photopoint Gallery
2023 - Isle of Hope Art & Music Festival
2023 - ‘Savannopoly’ - Location Gallery benefitting Coastal Empire Habitat for Humanity
2023 - Summer Gallery Exhibition - Ossabaw Island Foundation
2023 - “Through the Looking Garden’ - Arts on the Coast Annual Exhibit
2023 - ‘Days of Ford and Roses’ - ArtNite with Arts on the Coast
2023 - ‘Heart of Gold’ - benefitting Royce Learning Center, Ships of the Sea Museum
2023 - SuperFine Art Fair, Savannah
2023 - ‘Senses of Place’ Location on Location Gallery benefitting Forsyth Farmers Market
2023 - ‘Portals’ - ArtNite with Arts on the Coast
2023 - Kobo Gallery Artist Cooperative Member
2022 - Holiday Opening benefitting Savannah Speech and Hearing, Kobo Gallery
2022 - ‘Ocean’ - benefiting Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
2022 - ‘Ossabaw Island’ - OIF Art Show benefiting Ossabaw Island
2022 - Artist Radio Interview with WRUU.ORG
2022 - ‘Summer Nights’ - Location Gallery benefiting Hospice Savannah
2022 - ‘Gallery Social’ - The Gallery at the Mansion
2022 - ‘Freestyle’ - Arts on the Coast Annual Exhibit
2022 - ‘Caretta’ - Location Gallery / Caretta Sea Turtle Research Project
2022 - ‘Southern Discomfort’ - Location Gallery benefiting the Flannery O’Conner Home
2022 - ‘Perseverance 15’ - Kobo Gallery
2022 - ‘Under the Sea’ - Arts on the Coast ArtNite Series
2022 - Kobo Gallery Artist Cooperative Member
2021 - Holiday Opening benefitting Savannah Chatham Citizens Advocacy, Kobo Gallery
2021 - ‘Holiday Artist Collective’ - Annual group show at Photopoint Gallery
2021 - ‘Under $300’ - Location Gallery benefitting WRHU
2021 - ‘Trees’ - Estes Gallery at Great Oaks Bank
2021 - ‘Gate and Garden’ - Location Gallery benefitting Friends of Coastal Bamboo Gardens
2021 - ‘Artfields’ - Artfields - How to get to Heaven from Georgia
2021 - ‘Savannopoly’ - Location Gallery benefitting Coastal Empire Habitat for Humanity
2021 - ‘About Face’ - Location Gallery benefitting Savannah Classical Academy Foundation
2021 - ‘Artwalls21’ - Photopoint Gallery
2021 - Kobo Gallery Artist Cooperative Member
2023 - Holiday Opening benefitting Savannah/Chatham CASA, Kobo Gallery
2020 - Kobo Gallery Artist Cooperative Member
2020 - ‘Holiday Artist Collective’ - Annual group show at Photopoint Gallery
2020 - Artist Video Interview with Daily Dose of the Coast
2020 - ‘Low Country, High Tide’ - Photopoint Gallery
2020 - ‘Moveable Feasts’ - Location Gallery
2020 - ‘LUSH’ - Location Gallery benefitting the Savannah Tree Foundation
2020 - ‘The Southern Landscape’ - South x Southeast Gallery
2019 - ‘Holiday Artist Collective’ - Annual group show at Photopoint Gallery
2019 - ‘ArtFete’ - Telfair Museum
2019 - ‘Happiness Is...’ - Location Gallery benefiting Park Place Outreach
2019 - ‘The Art of Living’ - Location Gallery benefiting Hospice Savannah
2018 - ‘Holiday Artist Collective’ - Annual group show at Photopoint Gallery
2018 - ‘Art Bash’ - Telfair Museum
2018 - ‘Local Large Format’ - Photopoint Gallery - (Solo Photography Show)
2018 - ‘Fast Food’ - Location Gallery benefiting the Forsyth Farmers Market
2018 - ‘Southern Discomfort’ - Location Gallery benefiting the Flannery O’Conner Home
2017 - ‘Holiday Artist Collective’ - Annual group show at Photopoint Gallery
2017 - ‘Aqua Vista’ - Location Gallery benefiting the Ogeechee River Keeper
2017 - ‘The Damned Don’t Cry’ - Location Gallery benefiting the Savannah Book Festival
2015/16 - ‘Holiday Artist Collective’ - Annual group show at Photopoint Gallery
2012 - Arts on the Coast Annual Exhibit, Honorable Mention