Joan Geary

Geary was born in Chicago, IL, but raised in Glenview, a northern suburb. An early encounter with surrealism – specifically Salvador Dali – and the pop art and op art movements of the 1960s laid the foundation for Geary's lifelong obsession with art. As an adolescent, she would take the bus into the city to spend the day walking around The Art Institute of Chicago alone, seeking out those edgy genres that made such bold use of color, shape, and odd juxtapositions; such a foil to her daily life, and so defiant and wholly different than what she knew. Her solo meanderings through the museum lit something up in her, a yearning for something more – to see and create. Joan works mainly in oil and cold wax, a medium that allows for the buildup of a rich history and patina through amassing layers of paint and excavation back through those layers. Luminosity and light have become trademarks of her work, which explores color and shape inspired by nature and God. Her work has been featured in numerous venues throughout the Midwest, as well as publications such as The Chicago Tribune, The Doings, and a book titled Cold Wax Medium: Techniques, Concepts, and Conversations by Rebecca Crowell and Jerry McLaughlin.