Joe's Exploding Art

NO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE USED IN THIS ARTWORK. Period.

"Joe Wallace, the founder of Joe's Exploding Zoo, is a visual artist based in Springfield, Illinois." That's what the opening of my artist statement is supposed to say, along with some mention of me being an abstract painter.

The artist statement is supposed to say that I do artwork that explores the after-midnight side of life, that I work on paper i abstract ways that incorporates surrealist text and ghosts of ideas.

But I have taken a very non-traditional path in the world of visual art, and I tend not to play by the rules. You are meant to write all your "What motivates me as an artist" nonsense in the third person, set your prices for your work aspirationally high, and try to cultivate an audience of rich patrons for your work.

Or at least patrons with a lot of disposable income. But the motivations for this work are quite different from all that. It's basically about staying alive, continuing to work, and to make the human connections needed to truly have a decent experience in this life. Making and experiencing art is a damn fine way to do that.