Joi Murugavell
Joi Murugavell is an Australian artist that was born in 1973. She received master in visual arts and design, in Auckland University of Technology. She currently lives and works in Sydney, Australia. Joi Murugavell has been drawing since she was six, her whimsical and hilarious drawings she calls ‘Oodlies’ are her means of finding escape and understanding. Her work often investigates the intricacies or as she puts it ‘the trials and tribulations’ of human communication. She favours acrylics, , pen, markers and is continually experimenting with new surfaces and ideas ‘because new experiences often create the environment to become ‘unstuck’.
“Existence was not only absurd, it was plain hard work. Think of how many times you put on your underwear in a lifetime. It was appalling, it was disgusting, it was stupid.” – Charles Bukowski
Humour and play are integral in the life and art of Joi Murugavell– a lesson she learned from her father as an elixir to life’s absurdities. Behind the laughs lies a desperate desire to understand her world – away from the influences of family, friends and culture. Like a string in a maze, her art is the process by which she navigates the layers she’s acquired along the way.
Joi’s art is spontaneous, who’s characters frequently act out life experiences, capturing the beauty and pain of the human experience and the soul in flux. Her art is often abstract, bright, biting, humorous— and always on the edge of either feeling good or being another way to bleed.