Joyce Westrop

My work is an invitation for people to think about the world around them and the beliefs that our society has taken for granted.

I use images and objects that carry meaning in themselves and can relate to my theme. I develop connections and metaphors within a world of abstraction and expressionism. Tumbling wings from Icarus’ doomed flight and crumpled bi-planes of the Wright brothers are some of the motifs I have been using in my latest series of drawings. I have focused on the compulsion Western man feels towards Space and what that means for Earth. Flight links the earth to the universe, creating a metaphor for our unfulfilled desire to escape.

I ask the viewer to interpret for themselves the layers of symbolism and meaning in my work. Hopefully this can lead to a broader questioning of the status quo. As a contemporary artist I am currently examining the world through printmaking, drawing and sculpture.

After graduating with a BFA (magna cum laude) from the University of Ottawa, Joyce studied printmaking at the Ottawa School of Art. She has received grants for her work from the City of Ottawa and Ontario Arts Council. She exhibits extensively, most recently at the Propeller Visual Arts Centre in Toronto and has been published in “Art and Paper VII” through galerie d’art Jean-Claude-Bergeron in Ottawa.