Today in Valentina’s bed there’s a great hyperpointillist very uncommon: Joka. Let’s read together about his story and art.

 How long you been painting?

“Professionally”, or with the intent to be, since about 2004. After I was laid off from a job, and having just discovered the pop-surrealism genre of art, I decided that showing paintings in galleries of that vein is what I wanted to pursue. Before that I dabbled a lot and made eclectic paintings of varying styles but with no real direction or intent, because having not gone to school for painting I never had to decide on any of those. 

What did you bring to hyperpontillism?

Most pointillists use a brush or a pen, so incorporating a different tool (toothpicks in my case) and using many colors, I pushed the idea of pointillism into a realm that maybe some hadn’t thought possible. 

Are there any artists you take inspiration from?

These days with so many artists swirling around in the ethos I’ve lost track of a bunch that I used to follow, and just can’t keep up with the masses anymore. But any artist living strictly off the work they’re making is an inspiration to me. 

You wrote that pointillism is a sort of meditation. Does it work for your daily life or just in the creative process?

It is definitely the outlet that my life needs to have direction and focus. Setting a task (the piece of art) and then following through with completing it, is a kind of discipline that would probably be lacking otherwise. 

Subjects of your works always make a sort of “collage”, absurd visual effect, even the erotic ones. Do you think a sense of surreal helps understand eroticism in its different aspects?

I think it re-contextualizes it to make it more artistic and up to a multitude of interpretations, because otherwise anything “erotic” is just us being humans. 

Your campaign of “Censor Art” is deeply effective. I totally agree when you say “the watering down and censoring of something as universal as  human body is counterproductive to the enrichment of the arts”. How do you explain, in your opinion, this regression into “shyness” nowadays? Why is it so difficult to concern with bodies and nudity in art within new media?

Unfortunately I think it all boils down to corporate entities being afraid to taint their product with something that a few might seem inappropriate and then excluding part of their customer base, as well to us all being afraid of certain body parts.

I think nudity, in all forms of entertainment, is more accessible these days than ever before thanks to the internet. The Censor Art Project is meant to shine a light on the hypocrisy of platforms that say it’s ok to cover up a nude image, meant to be erotic, with three little strategically placed dots, but a piece of art, meant to elicit other emotions, is restricted just because it shows a nipple. 

I’m censoring WITH my dot art, instead of having an algorithm exclude it from the masses because it might be deemed adult content.

The “censorship” you do is actually a way to highlight bodies, and it really works as that. Do you believe is because of that “hide and seek” effect that is often used in erotic art or there’s another reasons?

There’s little else that we are as familiar with as the human form/features, so even a silhouette is immediately recognizable, and I’m highlighting that in a colorful way.

Leaving things to the imagination though does tap into ones erotic mindset, and leaves more to be desired.  

Talking about new media: your art is a manual, tangible work. As a creator, what do you think of these two “schools”, the digital and the “analogic” one? Could they really coexist and support each other or not?

Living in the digital reliant world that we do now, the digital realm of art is inevitable. There will probably be kids soon that only ever make art on a device, never using any solid materials.

I’m pretty old school though, and will always want a tangible product. Manufactured reproductions are cool, but having the one-and-only of an art piece really means something to me.

It’s gives you something directly from an artist, that I don’t feel a digital artist is able to convey the same way. 

What is the “nostalgic imagery” named in your “about” page?

I like to use a lot of ‘vintage’ references and re-appropriate them to modern times. A lot of what I use comes from actual older magazines that I’ve collected.

“Censor Art” is one of the latest project you’re working. Is there any else you could anticipate?

I’ve started a bunch of different series within the project, but nothing else planned in the foreseeable future.

I’d like to work bigger, but am still figuring out the logistics of that. This project has been received very well, and I think it’s relevant to the times, so I’m going to stick with it until I’ve exhausted all its avenues.

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