The interplay of light and space with color and pattern creates an optical magic.
My work is an homage to change. For over two decades I’ve been working with fiberglass mesh, metal mesh, and aluminum sheet metal. Aluminum drew my interest when I realized this cold, industrial metal held the potential to appear ethereal. Mesh captivated me for its malleability and the wide range of effects it offers. It can be draped, cut, shaped, painted, and layered—producing outcomes that shift from the soft blending of color to the sharp fracturing of moiré patterns. When a viewer moves, patterns shift, and colors may recombine into other hues. Introduce enough space between layers and magnification occurs. Adjust the lighting and the entire palette transforms. Sometimes the work seems to emit a quiet luminescence; other times, it plays tricks on the eye, bending perception of depth. These effects, set in motion by the viewer, endow the work with the capacity to transform.
This exploration of transformation is not limited to materials alone—it resonates with the broader context of the world we inhabit. There may be no moment in human history more profoundly shaped by change than the present. Climate upheaval and the breathtaking rise of Artificial Intelligence are reshaping the world with alarming speed. For over six million years, our species has survived because of its capacity to adapt. Change is not only inevitable; it is essential.
My artwork reflects and embraces this enduring truth.
Born in California’s San Joaquin Valley and later raised in Napa’s wine country, Joan Konkel is a Washington, D.C.-based artist whose work explores the intersection of materiality, light, and transformation. Konkel holds a BFA from San Francisco College for Women and an MFA in Sculpture from George Washington University. Her creative path has evolved from fashion design to wood and stone carving, eventually leading to her distinctive practice of layering mesh, canvas, paint, and aluminum sheet metal. These industrial and traditional materials are manipulated to create shimmering, dimensional surfaces that respond dynamically to light and movement.
Her work has been widely exhibited in galleries across the United States as well as the U.S. ambassadorial residences in Paris, France, and Tirana, Albania through the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies Program. Konkel’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Art in DeLand, Florida; the Polk Museum at Florida Southern College; the Golisano Children’s Museum in Naples, Florida, and in numerous private and corporate collections nationally and abroad.
A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and the Anni Albers Designer Award, Konkel draws inspiration from Constructivism, Minimalism, and Abstract Art. Her life and artistic vision have been shaped by early world travels with her grandmother, as well as by living in Aix-en-Provence, France—the city of Paul Cézanne—and Santiago, Chile.