Joanna is a painter whose large-scale figurative works examine her relationship to herself, her family, and the world around her. Her practice explores themes of motherhood, childhood, protection, identity, and femininity.

Watching her daughters grow has led Joanna to reflect on her childhood through the lens of motherhood, and on her identity as a woman, and her role as a mother and daughter.

Drawing and making small work sparks ideas and builds momentum for large paintings that evolve intuitively on the canvas through layers of fluid paint. The large scale is important to Joanna, allowing her to physically engage with and inhabit the work during its making. Female figures recur in her paintings, often loosely drawn from her own body or those of her children.

Each painting is an amalgamation of dreams, memories, and present experience. Through this layering of references, Joanna gives form to her emotional and internal landscape.