J o A n n e M c F a r l a n d
Image by photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Artist Poet Independent Curator
Creativity is the opposite of violence.
I believe words are the most powerful things in human societies. Anything, and anyone, can be built or destroyed with words. This tenet is the foundation of my work in poetry, in art, and as a curator. Through my daily practice I identify barriers to living out loud with an open heart. My artworks are emblems of my commitment to engage the breadth of my own and others’ humanity.
The heart of my practice is working beyond fear; more specifically, living outside the fear–state that is the centrifugal force of much of American culture. My mission as an artist is to tell the sometimes brutal truth about what I see around me, and to honor and celebrate my own and others’ ability to thrive, sometimes in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. I commit to one creative act every day, and have devoted my life to remaining rapturously curious.
My faith in the creative process is absolute. As I make things out of both shadow and light I allow a magical sense of wholeness to transport me. Evidence of this passionate inquiry sometimes transports others as well, and is an integral part of why I make art.
Selfie With Swiss Chard, oil painting on wooden panel
My practice is built from my desire to live the most vivid life possible, on my own terms. My oil paintings and collages radiate complex psychological states and address political and cultural issues by using the dress as a reservoir of female agency and inquiry.
The Etruscan Dress, fabric and paper collage
I began my fabric and paper dress series more than twenty-five years ago. Over time, these pieces have served as my sketchbook, a place to work out ideas, and experiment with texture and text, abstraction and representation.
Cry Violet, oil painting on wooden panel
Selfie With 45, oil painting on wooden panel
INTERVIEWS
Interview in The Offing Literary Journal January 2025
Fordham University Poetic Justice Institute, April 2024
Feminism & American Poetry: JoAnne McFarland
The Common: Creativity as the Opposite of Violence, June 2023
Makenna Goodman Interviews JoAnne McFarland
One Breath Rising Poetry Reading and Discussion September 2023
Interview with The Editorial 2023
Feldenkrais Summit Interview 2022
Natasha Maidoff of ARTIST PLANET Interviews JoAnne
Artist Planet Interview June 2021
Mulheres na Arte Contemporanea Interview about A.I.R. Gallery 2015
Image by Artist Jee Hwang
THE SALLY PROJECT
Co-Curators Sasha Chavchavadze & JoAnne McFarland
Sarah ‘Sally’ Hemings, a mixed–race slave woman, and Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s Founding Fathers, had six children together. While a teenager in France with Jefferson’s family, Hemings had a chance at full freedom, but returned to America with Jefferson in 1791 when he was 47 years old.
SALLY explores how contemporary conceptions of white/black, male/female, young/old, rich/poor reflect or disrupt earlier cultural norms, and how connection, which all humans crave, happens across differences. The exhibition unites an eclectic array of artists and thinkers who use their practices to strengthen community and open dialogue around complex, often divisive issues.
The SALLY Project showcases artists at different stages of their lives and careers, making different kinds of work using different media, from different backgrounds, cultures, races, and ethnicities. In this way the curatorial premise encourages a vibrant mix of viewpoints around the theme of living with agency and radiance in spite of, and perhaps even due to, challenges in one’s environment.
The SALLY Project opened in October 2019 at three Brooklyn venues: The Old Stone House & Washington Park, The Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse, and Artpoetica Project Space. Due to enthusiastic response, the project went online at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania during the pandemic, and traveled to Wellfleet, MA in August 2021. In November 2021 SALLY opened at SUNY Adirondack, and in September 2022 at the Brickbottom Gallery in Somerville, MA. SALLY was featured at the Mary Heaton Vorse House in Provincetwon, MA in the summer of 2025.
SALLY highlights the work of artists interested in reanimating the narratives of women from the past who can serve as catalysts in this radical present.
A website that archives materials related to past and present female makers serves as the fulcrum of SALLY.
The Sally Project, On the Edge at the Mary Heaton Vorse House, Provincetown, MA 2025
ARTPOETICA PROJECT SPACE
Artpoetica is a project space in the heart of Gowanus, Brooklyn. Designed by Artistic Director JoAnne McFarland, Artpoetica’s exhibitions combine literary elements with visual art to create provocative, highly aesthetic experiences for visitors. Light–filled and serene, Artpoetica is a destination for animated discussion, book design workshops, performances, interdisciplinary exhibitions, and open studios.
Artpoetica Project Space, JoAnne McFarland’s Gowanus, Brooklyn studio
Contact
joannemcfarland55@gmail.com