Jo has worked in many fields from truck driving in Africa to curating the architectural festival Green-Door. The diversity and complexity of her career to date shows a passion and curiosity for human connections as well as for the environment.
Her work is often three-dimensional using the process of bringing elements together to create something quite physical; she also likes to bring these different sculptural pieces together as installations, playing with the various permutations and outcomes this can offer. The space that this happens in, be it inside or out them becomes an intrinsic part of the work.
Starting points and inspirations for her work are always changing, but are often prompted by materials such as found objects or found elements of the landscape be it a plant, a root, or a collection of organic matter. She plays with these materials through drawing, casting or printing, and, through this process, finds connections with ideas that she wants to communicate.
More recently her work has become increasingly based in the landscape, often resulting in temporary pieces that return to the earth, documented only through photography or film.
In 2023 Jo was awarded a bursary from the Arts Council Ireland to conduct some research into the interface between art and ecology in school education as a way of engaging children in their environment. A blog series for the Arts in Education Portal disseminated some her research and some of her findings.
https://www.instagram.com/jolewisart/
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