Joyce J. Scott

Joyce J. Scott delves into the extremes of human nature by conflating humor and horror as well as beauty and brutality. Scott’s primarily figurative sculptures infuse a deep sense of humanity into complex societal and political issues. Incorporating her trademark free-form and off-loom glass bead weaving with that of blown glass and found objects, she comments on matters of racism, sexism, violence, cultural stereotypes as well as themes of spiritual healing. She says, “I am very interested in raising issues…I skirt the borders between comedy, pathos, delight, and horror. I believe in messing with stereotypes, prodding the viewer to reassess, inciting people to look and then carry something home – even if it’s subliminal – that might make a change in them.” The visual richness of Scott’s objects starkly contrasts with the weight of the subject matter that they explore. Embedding cultural critique within the pleasurable experience of viewing a pristinely crafted object, her work mines history to better understand the present moment.

Joyce J. Scott (b. 1948, Baltimore, MD) lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. She received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Selected solo museum exhibitions include The Baltimore Museum of Art (2024); Seattle Art Museum (2024 – 2025); and Grounds for Sculpture (2018), Trenton, NJ. Scott was named a MacArthur fellow in 2016.
 

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