Joel Rea
- Words
- Hannah Edwards
Fascinated by the natural world, Joel Rea paints the pulsing elemental forces of our planet interplaying with human relationships formed in our society and consciousness. Driven to explore universal meanings around the human condition, Joel is also interested in depicting the underlying inner forces which drive human behaviour.
+ Read MoreHe presents these narratives visually through the use of vivid surreal landscapes, seascapes, animals and self portraiture. Joel also harvests ideas from his dreams and draws subject matter from his life journey and his own personal struggle to become a professional painter, a life long ambition which was many times nearly derailed by the unpredictable turmoil of his years coming of age as a young man. Joel obsessively searches through all different types of media to find the reference material needed to make his oil paintings, he stages extensive photo shoots and meticulously edits in the design process until confident enough to commence brush to canvas. Some artistic endeavours have seen Joel spending up to 750 hours on one painting alone.
All images © Joel Rea
