Emerging artist Veronica Joseph examines feminine beauty through her work inspired by the curiosity of social and cultural hybridity and her philosophy of discrimination. That has influenced her current body of work, unveils feminine excellence in powerful dignified portraits. Composed by bold, intricate brush strokes and a striking palette precisely capturing her figurative facial contours, rendering them in a royal appearance.
I paint women with the strong presence who are confident, productive, optimistic and positive, fearless and not afraid to stand up for what you believe in. Women who are proud!
Veronica Joseph
Joesph’s portraits emerge amazingly genuine and natural, representing her characters as proud women in an intense celebrated radiance. Her acute attention to her subject and art makes her works captivating and alluring for the viewer.
Her modernist style is demonstrated in fantastic visuals exhibiting her art form and technique, expressing her principles of feminine beauty and women’s empowerment in modern society.
Q: For those who don’t know you, can you please introduce yourself?
Veronica Joesph: It’s my pleasure to speak with you. My name is Veronica Joseph. I’m coming from Croatia and been living in London for a more than a decade now. I studied and graduated at KLC School of Design in London. I’m an Interior designer with the serious passion for art.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
Q: What is your inspiration, and why do you do what you do?
Veronica Joseph: My main inspiration are my parents who both sadly past away. (My mom past away in 2001.) In the summer of 2018 my Dad got diagnosed with the stage 4 brain tumour. One day I laid down next to him and as I was holding his hand, he just looked at me and said that I should bring something from his work desk. So I did and found my drawings at the bottom of the shelf that he kept since I was three years old.
I didn’t know he had them. He held my hand again and said -“ All I want for you is to be happy, that’s all that matters! Maybe you should try and paint again, I remember how you loved it”. Just a month later he past away and I kept thinking about what he said. It was a really hard period for me, losing him left me heartbroken.
So I decided to do something positive, something meaningful, just for him. In February 2019 I went to the art shop and bought all the art equipments and started passionately painting every single day for hours in my backyard. With the enormous support from my friends and people who I love that believed in me I kept going and here I am. I’m so grateful to be doing what I love.
Q: Can you tell us about your creative process?
Veronica Joseph: My creative process is defined as a succession of my thoughts and dreams and then actions leading to original idea. It manifests in different ways and on different moods throughout the day. For me it’s very easy to be able to unlock my creative potential.My preparation stage involves a quick brainstorming that includes a theme and the colour palette.
Then there is the incubation stage where I let my idea go and start thinking creatively. Then the “Aha” moment comes when everything comes together super easily and where idea has emerged. Evaluation stage usually lasts for 3 -7 days, with lots of uneven strokes, fixing them, undoing them and so on… until is perfect. When I finalise my painting and bring the idea to life I share it to the world.
Q: What is the reason behind your fusion of feminine beauty and cultural identity in your works?
Veronica Joseph: Discrimination strikes me at the very heart of being human. It is heartbreaking to see someone’s rights to be simply taken away because of who they are or what they believe. We all have the right to be treated equally, regardless of our race, ethnicity, nationality, class, religion, belief, sex, gender, language, age or other status. My mother was an activist for social and political justice.
She believed that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities, particularly those in greatest need. I think she instilled that power in me. That’s why I paint women with the strong presence who are confident, productive, optimistic and positive, fearless and not afraid to stand up for what you believe in. Women who are proud! I called them “my little warriors” This is how “Veronica Joseph “ was born. I named myself after my parents main names. My real name is Ana Stanic.
Q: What was the first piece of art you made that cemented your path as an artist?
Veronica Joseph: My first piece of art was painting of Frida Kahlo, she still “lives “ in my living room and looking at her every day I’m more sure that my decision to paint was the right thing-to do! Although doing projects and building homes is fun, art is where I can totally express myself with no limitations.
Q: What is your favourite piece?
Veronica Joseph: My favourite piece is Mona Lisa because of her mysteriousness and the fact that no one really know who she was. Or the fact that she is maybe Leonardo Da Vinci himself.
Q: What do you think about the current state of the art world?
Veronica Joseph: I think technology changed everything. For example photography and digital painting dramatically transformed what people valued in it. Almost everything we know or think about modern art comes from that fact. When I submitted my digital artwork for one gallery competition for the first time I had seen different medias grouped together in exactly same art context. After going trough different generations and times, art has now come “together “.
Q: What role does the artist have in society?
Veronica Joseph: Artist can play a different and necessary part in contributing to society.They could bring joy, inspiration and positive interactions. They could also give thoughtful critique to social, economic and political systems and “push” people to make steps towards social progress.
Q: What impact do you think Instagram has had on Art?
Veronica Joseph: Almost every aspect of our lives is now being dictated by social media. Instagram has given the unknown, inexperienced artists the greatest opportunity and its a platform where you can instantly share you art with the world. Before Instagram if you didn’t know somebody in the art world or had financial support to go to the best art colleges it is more likely for your art not ever to be seen. Now because of Instagram everybody’s got a chance.
Q: Which artists have caught your attention in the last five years?
Veronica Joseph: There are many but I would limit myself to:
David Hockney, Tamara de Lempicka, Coco Davez, Damien Hirst and Retna.
Q: What’s next for you as an artist?
Veronica Joseph: I will continue expressing and communicating ideas in purpose for inspiring and stimulating human minds and to help spreading a message on subjects that I’m passionate about. I was invited by the fabulous Maeve Doyle ( I’m still in disbelief LOL ) to talk on her show about my work.
Her belief in me and my art has really inspired me to not only continue but to dream bigger and better. There is no limitation to what we all can achieve if we believe. I have also just opened my website so my art now is finally for sale. I plan to expand not only in In my art but also with some merchandise and incorporate traditional art again, but that will be a little further down the line.
Be BOLD enough to use voice, BRAVE enough to listen to your heart, and STRONG enough to live the life you have always imagined.
Q: Lastly, what does Art mean to you?
Veronica Joseph: Art for me is the awakening of the senses and soul. You can be feeling super down and then you see the picture and suddenly you are alive and your heart is beating and you feel the things that you never felt before. It is colour, it’s expression , life and motion, love, harmony and piece. It is life incapsulated in image. It is expression.
This was emerging artist Veronica Joseph to keep up to date with Joesph’s work head over to her website link below
https://www.instagram.com/veronicajoseph_art/
©2021 Veronica Joseph
Len is a curator and a contributing writer at Art Plugged, a platform for contemporary art; he also engages in web development, design, and marketing.
