On Practice: Joe Kiney Whitmore

What questions or ideas are shaping your work at the moment?

The questions shaping my work right now are mostly about the self: how I perceive myself, my body in the world, the body as a vessel for spiritual growth. I am interested in telling my own story, not as confession but as material. The figures in my paintings are often me, or some version of me, and I am trying to get closer to something true rather than something described.

What’s something you wish you’d known earlier?

That it takes ten years to become an overnight success. A friend told me that and it has never really left me. It connects to a lot of things: patience, jealousy, FOMO, the irrational conviction that there is one magic painting out there that will change everything. Maybe there is. But most likely further success will come slowly, with continued intention, and my best attempts at being graceful in the face of the many inevitable rejections along the path. Being an artist can feel like being a door to door salesman, only the people are generally a bit less rude. You knock ninety-nine times in the hope that the hundredth will invite you in for a brew.

What aspect of the Castlefield Gallery Associates membership do you find most beneficial?

For me, genuine community is life-saving. We live in a world where people have quietly lost it, and associate memberships like this one are a good place to start rebuilding that. Finding your people, helping each other, having a good time. I am looking forward to the exhibition tours and talks, and to simply being around other serious artists who are asking similar questions.

What are you hoping to explore or develop next?

My oil painting practice takes on new dimensions every year, but recently I put together my first solo performance work, The Weight of the Light, using my large-scale paintings as theatrical backdrops alongside spoken word, live music and text. Partly I wanted to create an immersive environment. Partly I wanted to trap seated people in front of my paintings for longer than a few passing seconds. The show was the closing event at Wigan Arts Festival earlier this year and I am taking it to the Morecambe Bay Fringe Festival in July. I am curious to see where it goes next.

I also want to learn more about printmaking. I am craft and skill-oriented in all things, and I think there is a real beauty in the simplicity of making – the physical, material act of it. That thread runs through everything, from the lead white to the large canvases to the performance work. It is all the same inquiry conducted across different materials.

One thing inspiring you right now? Mokuhanga woodblock printmaking.

A place that feeds your creativity? Other artists’ studios, or walking in nature.

A tool, habit or ritual you rely on? Trying to practise gratitude.