Joel Masewich Sold at Auction Prices

Joel Masewich is a professional visual artist, working full-time for the past 18 years. He is an abstract painter, working with acrylic on paper or canvas. His multi-layered, imaginary works represent his emotional response to landscapes, and sometimes to events or ideas. Many of his paintings are strongly horizontal and contain visual references to water or light. His vivid colours are sharply contrasting, as if lit by direct sunlight. Art collectors are drawn to the immediate, fresh quality of his work which crosses the boundary between landscape and abstract art.

His technique is to layer the paints, then intermix them with palette knives and brushes, leaving a sharp and lively interplay of colour. In a recent exhibition, Passage to Salem, Joel began to include collage elements in his work. This began with paper originals, and now involves stainless steel shapes, which are laser cut and applied to the canvas. This technique is evolving to include glass and paper elements as well.

Appropriately, Joel Masewich lives in a rural area, in the hamlet of Salem, which sits on the outskirts of the village of Elora in southwestern Ontario. His home and studio are housed in a renovated stone stable. He is active in the local arts community, but also travels widely to show his work in galleries and exhibitions. He is married, with three children, and is an active, competitive squash player.

Artist's Statement

By combining various mediums, stainless steel and acrylic paint, I try to capture the feeling and create a bridge to the expressive quality of the moment, the multiple ways of seeing a landscape, the hidden compositions of colour and texture and the hidden energy we all sense in the land - abstracting a cascading stream into gestures of colour and light.