Ann Treesa Joy

I am an artist, educator, performer and activist. My work celebrates and uplifts the body; bodies of humans, animals, and plants as parts of a larger body - the earth, and the universe. The body, being a vessel for spirits to taste and hear and see and experience is an incredible gift. But it’s so hard for us to appreciate this gift when there’s so many controls on how a body should or shouldn’t be in the world. As society has grown, systems of power have been created to disembody us. These systems - capitalism, patriarchy, racism, colonialism - camouflage themselves as progress, but take root in us as we grow, to fully replace our natural bodily instincts. 

As one example, when we are young, we sleep when our bodies tell us we need rest. As we grow older, we learn to ignore those instincts in the name of productivity, an invention of capitalism, and the addiction to money it has afflicted us with. Other examples refer to the food we eat, how we feel in our own bodies, how we perceive other bodies. The art world, as an institution, has also fallen prey to the system. It consumes material and capital, steals and claims ownership of art history. It makes itself exclusive to those with capital, leaving artists underpaid and overworked. These systems of power are only in place to oppress and exploit us all. 

My work breaks down these truths and lay them raw through lived and shared experiences, so that we as individuals and as a society can come to unconditionally love everything we see and are. Beauty - especially art celebrating the body - reminds us why we’re fighting, and for what. The work of liberation is re-embodiment of ourselves and the Earth. We, as a community of bodies, as a planet, are all we have, and all we can rely on. My work as an artivist reminds us to be in constant awe of the beauty of this world and that we are one beautiful body. I explore these topics and many more through my own perspective as a non-binary, queer immigrant to the US, blessed with many places I’ve made home and many angels guiding me every step of the way.