JOANNE PERKINS
Playful calligraphic compositions in ink
"My artworks are often small sections of bigger pieces. Much like quotations. I call them my inklings
Making art with ink is a homage to my love of literature and words and my training as a printmaker. Ink is like me: transparent, unpredictable, and in constant movement!"
Joanne's works are joyful, energetic, and a little wild! She explores the dance between freedom and control, the heart and the mind, embodied in the calligraphic practice of 'brushmind'. Her approach combines free-flowing mark-making using inks and brushes, with her love of books and script. Her compositions sometimes break free of the confines of wall-hung work onto cylindrical or accordion-style folded paper sculpture.
Embracing the visceral joy of spilling, pouring, splashing, layering, and guiding the marks, Joanne sometimes makes her own tools from feathers, branches, flotsam, and jetsam or even a mop and bucket.
Until 2021 Joanne lived in Paris, teaching English literature and Art for almost 30 years. A course in East Asian calligraphy, with Zen master Kazuaki Tanahashi, revealed a new direction to Jo, eembracing life in Brighton as a full-time artist and part-time laughter yoga teacher. Since relocating Joanne has been hugely inspired by the beauty and energy of the sea. Taking a beach hut for the winter has enabled her to capture the sensational sunsets we have been treated to.
