Joy Holden
the story so far
"With my mosaics I am trying to isolate a moment in the fluid landscape of my experiences and represent it using immutable mineral fragments."
Joy specialises in the 'reverse method' (this generates mosaics with uncharacteristically flat surfaces), producing her original mosaic designs using a combination of finely cut glass and ceramic tesserae and location-specific durable substrates.
Joy has perfected her technique over a period of fifteen years, prior to which she had followed a multidisciplinary path that began after graduating with a degree in ceramic sculpture and meandered through such diverse disciplines as screen process printing, making patchwork clothes, Permaculture design, family building and youth work.
Joy now works out of her studio at designermakers21 in Diss Norfolk, where, in addition to producing her own original designs, she undertakes private commissions and runs workshops covering a variety of mosaic techniques. Joy is a member of both The British Association of Modern Mosaics and The Crafts Council.
Artist's Statement
"I love walking in the countryside. When I do I am struck by the profusion of shapes and colours which aggregate into beautiful patterns; particular dispositions of forms, diverse interactions and relationships, vibrant yet serene. With my mosaics I am trying to isolate a moment in this constantly changing landscape and represent it using immutable mineral fragments. To capture the fluid nature of these patterns using hard unyielding pieces of ceramic and glass, this is the challenge I relish; I aim to convey the excitement and thrill to be found in the explosion of diversity where edges meet, while still maintaining the calm completeness of the whole."
