Joana Cruz’s art involves a desire to work with substances that exist in the material world, vegetable organic matter observed daily. This is a work built upon the attention given to he details of shapes found in matter – deteriorating leaves and parts of plants. The subjects are removed from their natural habitat and carried into the studio. What interests the artist in these organic matters are the designs they create by themselves. An intention to understand how to register them. To this point, the work develops through engraving, drawing and photography. Registration leads Cruz to understand both the materials in question, and the various methods used.

Joana Cruz was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1990 and lives in Caldas da Rainha. She has a Specialization in Set Design from Escola  Secundária Artística António Arroio, BFA in Visual Arts and MFA graduate at Escola Superior de Arte e Design, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.

Keywords
outline, organic matter, registration, matrix, detail.

Current Exhibitions
Agora Gallery, 2017, Selected Artist of the Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, New York.

Glossary

Embalm Protect from time.
Impression, Print (Impressão pt.) Idea, act of printing, mark.
Intrinsic Belonging naturally; essential.
Inherent Existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute.
Organism An individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form. A system or organization consisting of interdependent parts, compared to a living being.
Preserve Maintain (something) in its original or existing state. Maintain or keep alive (a memory or quality).  Keep safe from harm or injury.
Real What is believed to be truth
Reality What surrounds us as palpable things
Register Put in writing, inscription
Substance The matter from which a thing is or can be made. The physical part of an organism.
Truth What is believed

From the Oxford Dictionary:

Appearance The way that someone or something looks. An impression given by someone or something.
Factor A circumstance, fact, or influence that contributes to a result, to a judgment.
History The study of past events, particularly in human affairs. The whole series of past events connected with a particular person or thing. A continuous, typically chronological, record of important or public events or of a particular trend or institution.
Inscription The action of inscribing something.
Judgment The ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions. An opinion or conclusion.
Organize Arrange systematically; order.
Range The area of variation between upper and lower limits on a particular scale. A set of different things of the same general type. The direction or position in which something lies.
Set up The way in which something, especially an organization or equipment, is organized, planned, or arranged.
Transcendent Beyond or above the range of normal or physical human experience. Surpassing the ordinary; exceptional.

CV

Academia de Música de Santa Cecília, Lisboa
Saint Cecilia Music Academy, Lisbon
1993–2006


Escola Secundária Artística António Arroio, Lisboa
António Arroio Artistic High School, Lisbon
Specialization in Set Design
2006–2008

Escola Superior de Artes e Design, Caldas da Rainha
College of Arts and Design, Caldas da Rainha
BFA
2009–2012

Escola Superior de Artes e Design, Caldas da Rainha
College of Arts and Design, Caldas da Rainha
MFA
2012–2015

Fundação Oriente, Lisboa
Orient Foundation, Lisbon
Artes e natureza dos jardins japoneses
Japanese Gardens Art & Nature
20.10.2012– 20.11.2012

Caligrafia chinesa
Chinese Caligraphy
22.01.2013–25.01.2013

Pintura chinesa
Chinese Painting
19.10.2013–26.10.2013

Next Art, Lisboa
Curso de desenho
Drawing
5.02.2006–10.05.2006

Arco, Lisboa
Curso de desenho
Drawing
18.06.2005– 03.07.2005

British Council, Lisboa
Curso intensivo de inglês
Intensive English course
2004–2006