Joshua Kosker's Page

I consider myself a formalist with a concern for the perceptible characteristics of each piece I construct. The materials and process with which I create dictate form. Currently, rather than stating a concept through content and representationalism, my work exists to evoke an aesthetic emotional response through the various colors, forms, and compositions that intertwine positive and negative space.

My hollow ware and jewelry are primarily design-based and formal in nature. Deconstructivist architecture and mid-century modern design influence form, while materials and scale inform content. Many of these pieces tend to question functionality, such as a brooch that is oversized or teacups that contain unsafe patinas. Patinas are often applied to copper and brass surfaces as I would apply paint to masonite or pixels to acrylic sheets. These treatments alter the facades to the point of visual contemplation and curiosity.

In my airscape paintings, I find influence, both technically and aesthetically, from the natural classical elements -air, fire, earth, water and void. I experiment with various techniques that compliment a variety of materials. Layers of oil, acrylic, and varnish are consciously applied to masonite. Digitally- transformed images are occasionally mounted on acrylic sheets enclosed in resin. These layered processes take advantage of the texture and transparency of the materials in order to achieve a sense of depth and curiosity. The indicated surfaces, often decomposed through burning, are then contained to reveal a void that has boundaries. Virtual ideas become tangible realities, all at once, resulting as arbitrary rhythms and repetitions of spontaneous elements and spatial harmony.