Joseph Yonke

My grandfather, artist Robert Yonke, who is my most influential role model, introduced me to art at a very young age. Since then, and with a significant proclivity to create and manipulate media, art has become a large part of who I am. The style that defines my work today was developed over his years of lessons and mentoring. He helped me discover my place and identity in the art world. Therefore, I have grown up doing this; I have been conditioned to create art; and this is what I am meant to do.

One of my fondest memories is the day I began to define the style of my paintings. While working next to my grandfather in his garage studio, I applied heavy layers of oil and acrylic paint while mixing the mediums on the canvas's surface and following his color relation and design lessons. Once the piece was finished, we realized I was progressing towards a style of my own. The product was abstract and saturated, but the fashion of its production intrigued me more than any other work I had done prior.

Each experience and significant moment in my life is portrayed in each work. For example, in the piece "Cadmium Cory," which is based on a summer during an apprenticeship I had with the artist Cory Bonnet, all of the lessons I learned and experiences I had in proximity to my apprenticeship were incorporated. There were many impactful events that have changed or affected me permanently, which occurred in proximity to the time of my apprenticeship, and the guidance of Cory led me to and down an optimal path as an artist and human. Or during the construction of the painting of my mother, many significant emotions I have felt while being my mother's son are present in the painting. There has always been a conscious tendency to internalize everything happening to me and around me, and as a result, my art is a culmination of these elements. Additionally, what I create is predominately a view or commentary on the human condition and reflects what any human can feel or experience internally; as I feel these experiences are often too ignored, overlooked, or suppressed, I seek to identify and represent them, obviously relating to my perceptions regarding these circumstances.

While painting, I can feel myself or my body almost entirely unconsciously at times, making the creation for "me." And by the end of that particular development, while contemplating my decisions, the actions taken tend to make profound sense.

It’s crucial for me to capture something that seems improbable, to have the work hover between actuality and illusion. Essentially, painting allows me to offer my unique perspective on how I see - and have seen - the world, one way or another.

While creating art, the greatest appeal and tendency regarding construction or creation relates to the instinctive approach to the 1950s style of "action painting.” However, my work always includes some form of logic and reference to myself from a conscious perspective or to my greater surroundings, such as environment and nature; therefore, leaving ample room for ambiguity and for a viewer to incorporate their experiences and imagination to complete the work. Even the most uncomplicated of shapes have meaning—particularly when made into visual art. We cannot help but see something and implement personal individuality.

Essentially, my work integrates paint and self-expression while exploring the self and the unknown. Much of my art is a result of a stream of consciousness or can contain multiple meanings; regardless, I am in some way incorporating my being into the painting. The figurative, abstract expressionist, and, rather, cubist style behind my work circulating around abstract portraiture will always be of optimal interest to me. Breaking the rules with my art is something I have always done, and the continual colliding of artistic disciplines and style will further define what a Joseph R. Yonke work will demonstrate.

Predominantly among my work, I create a modern, large-scale, powerful, and compelling neo-abstract expressionist, figurative portraiture. Looking at one of my canvases is relative to playing an optical game, searching for diminutive moments and brushstrokes for the gaze to latch onto and analyze. The construction of my impasto work allows me to layer and confront complex concepts with the material and visual processes I discover during creation, resulting in an aesthetic experience, depth, and surface quality that drives me. All in all, I employ a multi-step process that results in the appearance of varied textures and depths. My artwork is uncommon and stands out significantly.

Ideally, my mission, demonstration as an artist and human, and the art I produce will inspire and impact others in a meaningful fashion and enhance life in some measure.

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