The ritual of finding treasure, contemplating its natural design, and creating a new environment for ancient elements is what I do.
The ritual of finding treasure, contemplating its natural design, and creating a new environment for ancient elements is what I do.
As an artist I'm lucky to hold treasure in my hands everyday. I'm in awe of the once living creatures and natural elements that have been formed by time into the stones, fossils, and minerals that I include in my work.
The fossils are primal time capsules. They are arranged with sheet glass, smalti glass, stones, marble, minerals, 24k gold and material recycled from modern life. The smalti is created in Italy from recipes dating to the Byzantine Era. Modern remnants are added to the composition if their surface qualities are compatible and exhibit the unexpected.
Each work is assembled one small piece at a time. The exterior appearance of each tesserae varies. Some are reflective, crystalline sharp, and sparkle aggressively. Others show a a subdued velvet countenance. Their mosaic combination is given much consideration.
Using material with great variation complicates a process that is already extremely labor intensive. As each work is constructed, its functional components and visual impact must be considered simultaneously.
The ritual of finding treasure, contemplating its natural design, and creating a new environment for ancient elements is what I do.
As a child in Joliet, Illinois, Joi Tripp was an avid reader and collector of all things scientific.
A favorite childhood possession was a plastic model: “The Invisible Man.” However, painting its internal organs with hobby enamels did not inspire a medical career.
Tripp has been a practicing artist since age six when her parents allowed her to use oil paints in the basement.
She has a BA degree in Art from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In 1988 Tripp received an MFA degree from the The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
She currently lives in Oakland, CA.
Joi Tripp’s career goal is to become the wisest, most tenacious overnight success on record.
During the bad old days of slides from camera film, she exhibited ceramic sculpture in Chicago and California. Her obsession with surface qualities in her work eventually overcame its sculptural clay material.
She has recently begun to show only work using glass, stone and her “treasures.” She has chosen to list only recent shows that represent the future direction of her work.
2011
Play of Light-Stone and Smalti Work by Bay Area Artists.
Institute of Mosaic Art. Oakland, CA
2012
Bound By Color
Institute of Mosaic Art. Oakland, CA
2012
Artist Invitational
Institute of Mosaic Art. Oakland, CA
Thank you for visiting my website. To inquire about my work, please email me. I welcome your input.
© 2024 Joi Tripp. Website Design & Development by Gore Creative
Materials include smalti, sheet glass, ruby, garnet ammonite, agate, jasper, wire mesh and millefiori
18 x 202013photo by Dustin Kane
Materials include sheet glass, Mexican and Italian smalti, beads, mookaite, carnelian, agates and aventurine sphere
20 x 92013photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include smalti, sheet glass, dichroic glass, 24k gold, vintage jewelry, crystal, millefiori and cookie wrappers
20 x 92012photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include marble, smalti glass, amethyst, quartz, apatite, stone, jasper, calcite, copper and millefiori
21 x 252012photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include fish fossil, smalti sheet glass, quartz, crystal, beads, dichroic glass, marble
24 x 182012photo by Peter TrippMaterials include Mexican and Italian smalti, sheet glass, crystal, shell, millefiori and 24k gold
38 x 292010photo by George PostMaterials include smalti glass, lapis, dichroic glass, beads, crystals, millefiori
28 x 182011photo by George PostMaterials include smalti, marble, millefiori and pyrite sun, apatite, fluorite, calcite, quartz and turquoise
18 x 182010photo by George PostMaterials include smalti glass, marble, agate, turquoise, copper, chrysocolla, cast glass, pyrite, and vintage African trade beads
12 x 122013photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include pate de verre, turquoise, chrysocolla, quartz, smalti glass, beads and filigrana
12 x 162013photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include pate de verre, quartz, ruby, fluorite, marble and beads
12 x 122013photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include sheet glass, angelite, celestine, pyrite, bismuth, kyanite and glass beads
12 x 162013photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include smalti, pyrite, pate de verre, agate, ruby, millefiori, fluorite, quartz and beads
18 x 122014photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include smalti, pate de verre, fluorite, vintage button, african beads, millefiori and calcite
18 x 122014photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include pate de verre, amethyst, kiln-cast glass, marble, pyrite, and tourmaline
20 x 162014photo by Dustin KaneMaterials include smalti, geode, fire opal, ruby, polished agate, and blown fuses
12 x 122014photo by Dustin Kane
