MFA Candidate: Joe Camoosa

Joe Camoosa paints with the need to create and express a feeling that lurks underneath the surface. He explains that there is a collective subconscious, something that can’t be found in looking at other sources of material or art. Rather, it is something that he must find within himself. He hopes viewers will be lost within the maze of color of his paintings and transcend into a world of their own, the way he has with some of his own favorite paintings.

He recalls a feeling he experienced with a specific work that really called to him, with an inexplicable need to be looked at. This experience inspired him to create that type of interaction for viewers, even when he cannot understand his own work. He aims to take them to a place where time freezes and all else is forgotten within the labyrinth of his creation.

With a variety of media, including acrylic, oil and even house paint, Camoosa is fascinated with the process of painting and how paints visually react to each other. He starts out with an abstract shape or pattern and continues adding to it as the canvas calls him. He treats his pieces as puzzles that must be solved by either adding or taking away until he is satisfied with the feeling it produces. When it is difficult to tell if a painting is really finished, he may step away and come back to it later to continue working. In the end, he leaves it up to viewers to interpret the content for themselves.

With the continuous layering of vibrant colors, his paintings create a battlefield of visual entrapment. He puts the canvas to the test to see how much it can hold as he works intuitively throughout the space. Camoosa takes full advantage of the chance to create what hasn’t been seen before, creating paintings that are fun, captivating and truly mesmerizing.

To see Camoosa’s work visit the “Master of Fine Arts Degree Candidates Exhibition” at the Georgia Museum of Art from April 11 to May 3, 2015.

http://joecamoosa.com