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Joe Solis
USA
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“Art and creating artwork have always been part of who I am. It has become my purpose and makes me whole.”
Joe is an 18-year-old Latino and Transgender artist born and raised in Los Angeles. Joe’s work typically leans towards surrealism, figurative work, and abstract work aesthetic-wise. Although he finds that he worries less about aesthetics and more about if what he is creating is portraying what he wants.
Meow! | Oil
$175
10 X 8
"Meow!" was Joe's introduction back into painting after a year long break from doing only sculpture work. Approximately 30 hours were spent on this piece due to it's size and level of detail. "Meow!" was made with the intention of exploring anatomical parts which a majority of living organisms possess in a manner which was more surreal.
Joe started using art to try to unravel the wires in his head. The more he created, the more satisfaction he felt. His goal with his artwork is to see the depths of himself, his brain, his heart, his skin, muscle, flesh. He wants to get to know every part of himself. To get inside himself and process what he is feeling and why is to reach a place of acceptance for himself.
A Cardboard Box With A Few Holes Poked Through The Top So I Can Breathe. | Oil
$520
30 X 24
This piece was made to illustrate how I felt being in specific spaces in regards to dissociation, as well as trauma. When I felt myself slipping and unable to connect with myself or my surroundings, this painting aided as a distraction. Ultimately I was able to best depict how being in spaces I have bad attachment or no attachment to at all through this piece alone. Every detail in this painting was thought through an immense amount so that it fully enveloped what dissociation feels like for me.
His process often starts with a conceptual idea of what he hopes to explore in himself. Based on this, he thinks about how he can show his feelings in his work without being too literal. Part of the process is also knowing where to stop. There is so much depth in every person, himself included. He finds it hard to stop working on a piece because there is always an abundance of feelings he wants to incorporate.
“I use my artwork to express feelings through visuals and textures.”
Putting too much of just any feeling or thought that might come up during the process tends to muddy the piece and does not feel as accomplishing to him to finish at that point. Finding a good balance where he explores parts of himself— but not too many, is when he creates his most successful and cathartic work.
Suicide Star | Oil
$550
30 X 24
This piece was solely created with the purpose of distorting a literal subject. I am very fascinated with anatomy and in turn fragility of humans. The subject for this piece was a photo from an autopsy of a gunshot wound. My goal was to take the subject and distort it so that it still resembled aspects of the subject like skin, blood cells, and veins, but was not obvious what the final piece was derived from.
"The Hand That Feeds" was a piece which started out as just a simple drawing for fun, but I felt very strongly about the figure I was illustrating the deeper I got into the piece, and started taking it in a different direction. Its creation was primarily in regards to relationship issues I was having at the time with loved ones, as well as feeling inadequate for living. The Hands wrapping around the fetus ended up being a staple used in a lot of my later work after.
The Hand That Feeds | Graphite
NA
5 X 5
He describes finishing his sculpture “Severed in Flesh” as one of his most cathartic and healing experiences in making art. It was also the most ambitious piece he has made, spending approximately 120 hours from start to finish. This piece was a turning point in how he understood himself and his creation as an individual.
“I love to experiment with materials. Experimenting with materials often results in opening new doors within myself and further self-reflection during my process.”
“I spent a long time feeling disconnected from myself, not knowing why or how my mind was working the way it was and feeling frustrated or depressed as a result. I did not know myself and did not want to know myself for a while.”
For him, a viewer interpreting his art the way he intended to express himself is never the goal. He thinks his work is most successful when it truly means something to someone, which will most likely not coincide with his meaning. But there is something beautiful about that. We are all righteous in our interpretations and experiences.
Baby Lungs | Other
$150
20 X 15
"Baby Lungs" was created primarily with irony in mind. Using children's clothes, I wanted to incorporate more adult themes---hence the pipe, to put an ironic twist on the subject.
Much of his art also focuses on trauma, which is why he describes it as healing. He states that he understands that some of his work can be on the darker side and sometimes scare people, but he feels that fear is as healthy a reaction as any other. He believes that if his work sparks any emotion in someone, then the piece is working.
Chester | Oil
NA
30 X 24
"Chester" was created with inspiration from Francis Bacon's work featured racks of meat in the backgrounds behind the figure. I wanted to depict my own character/figure in front of these meat racks to tie together anatomical features of humans in a more portraiture manner.
Dissociation is a theme he often explores in his work as well. He describes his connections to spaces and people as complex. He feels that words do not suffice for others' understanding of his experience. He can most successfully get his experiences with dissociation across better to others this way. He finds that he is most successful in his ability to relay his experiences to others when he uses art as a means of telling, not just showing.
"Severed in Flesh" is a sculpture which features 3 separate parts that come together to form the pieces conceptual narrative. This piece was used to explore my own relationship to the idea of "home" both in relation to physical spaces and viewing my body as a vessel and potential "home" to my soul/being.
Severed in Flesh | Resin
$4,500
54 X 32
“I am still quite young, only 18, but wherever life takes me, I intend to keep making art.”
Peanuts Autopsy | Other
$1,200
56 X 32
"Peanuts Autopsy" was created to explore themes of my own childhood and how many of the factors that determine how we grow up and will be into adulthood are out of our control.
A big part of self-reflection also takes on aspects of his identity. In the present and past, Joe describes his struggle with feeling okay in his own skin, specifically regarding pieces of his identity that he cannot change. Exploring these parts of himself and how he feels usually results in a deeper relationship with himself and learning to accept himself and the challenges he faces.
This piece was made to experiment with incorporating another hobby of mine, insect taxidermy, with painting. Whilst making this piece I wanted to express themes of mortality and decomposition using real insects which I pinned and mounted onto my painting of a distorted figure, eyes wide to illustrate stillness and fear of mortality.
Decompose | Oil
$250
40 X 30
Despite all his pieces being so personal, by the end of the process, he is able to let go. That is part of a successful process and piece to him. If he can rehome his work, it will be given a new life away from him. It served its purpose in helping him, and now it will serve its purpose for someone else.”
Pig Skins | Acrylic
$320
40 X 30
This piece was made as a way to reflect on my relationship to society as a whole and the world around me at the time. This piece was finished during the height of the pandemic in 2020, and I used this piece's process as a way for me to understand how I was interacting with people and places during that time when so much of my life being at home.
“I want to experience myself to the greatest depths I can. I want to know every fiber of my being no matter how daunting that may be.”
Joe Solis
@stomachfungus
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