Happiness is fleeting, it’s what happens to you. Joy is everlasting and comes from within.
I create art, spaces, and experiences that bring a smile to one’s face and spark joy.
As the world and everyday life are consistently steeped in a tea of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, hatred, scarcity, lack, and insecurities, I think it’s essential to be intentional and aware of what we consume (auditory + visually) and surround ourselves by. I’m leaning into joy-making and creating spaces and moments of joy because there are many structures and systems to ensure we don’t have and live a life of joy.
But how did I come to this place?
As I continued to share my work with family, friends, and passersby, the recurring feedback and reactions I received were smiles and how good they felt when they saw and experienced my work. There was a time when I was more guarded with my work because I knew the topics and conversations addressed were heavy and thought it wouldn’t be something someone would want in their home or space. But after the consistent feedback, I put this thinking aside and allowed people to engage in their own way.
Even though the topics I’m exploring are dense and heavy, ranging from restlessness to grief, release, repetitive behavioral patterns, inter and intrapersonal relationships, and more. By tapping into these shared experiences, there’s a level of familiarity that people can relate to where they can see themselves and their experiences in the work and that’s exciting. It sets the tone and reminder that you are not alone in what you experience, it varies to a certain degree, but we can relate to one another. And in that moment of realization, joy can be found there before the processing and critical thinking.
My hope is that my works do not encourage or promote distraction and avoidance of the current times, but can serve as a reminder to pause and breathe. And if you end up smiling then that’s bonus!
Jarifuller 