Joel Armstrong’s wire drawings

Joel Armstrong, a design professor at John Brown University, spearheaded a collabortive project now viewable at the JBU gallery:

Collabortive artwork intrigues me. One of my own college professors, Eddie Dominguez, pushed the idea of artists working with other artists and with the community to create artwork. Perhaps part of my fascination with this process relates to my concerns about artists being perceived as geniuses — as islands not to be bothered, lest their creative process be disrupted. Community needs to be part of our lives — even introverts like my wife need it.

I spoke with Joel late last year about his wire drawings. He began using wire to “draw” as a college student when — if I recall our conversation correctly — he told his own drawing professor that he could draw using anything.

More of Armstrong’s work is currently hanging in The Red Room at Community Christian Fellowship in Siloam Springs. In one sense I feel the urge to call his drawings pop art; the subject matter seems to revolve around ordinary objects. I restrain myself from applying this term to his wire drawings only because the rusty patina of the material takes on a warmth in color and texture. I would love to hang one of his clothesline pieces in my bedroom, but I’m also somewhat enamoured with a few small mixed media pieces hanging in The Red Room which resemble icons — icons crafted from found objects such as beads and flatware.