Moberg Gallery Summer Group Show – Artist Statement
I had the incredible opportunity to exhibit my work in Moberg Gallery’s Summer Art Show. For this exhibition, I created nine original pieces—each acrylic on cradled panel—ranging in size from 9x18 inches and 18x18 inches to a single large 4’ x 4’ centerpiece titled Snake Eyes.
For this body of work, I set a few personal parameters to guide my process—both for consistency and to help channel my often chaotic thoughts. Each piece had to contain three elements: something physical, something mechanical, and something nostalgic.
From across the room, the color palette is immediately apparent—vibrant reds and pinks contrasted by cool, minty blues. I wanted the viewer to feel these pieces right away, like a wound against a white wall—like a scraped knee or a fresh bruise. There’s an empathetic response I’m aiming for, a visceral connection.
As the viewer moves closer, they’ll begin to recognize familiar shapes, images, and characters. Closer still, the margins reveal layers of illustrations—thoughts and activity, some refined and others raw—giving glimpses into the process behind the finished surface.
I wanted to create something physical, something substantial. As an illustrator, I rely on my drawing to ground these works in reality—not just as abstract experience, but as tangible form.
The mechanical components—gears, schematics, and imagined contraptions—reflect how my mind operates. I’m obsessed with function, process, and efficiency. I don’t just want to know how things work—I want to redesign them to work better. Including mechanical elements in these pieces feels like pulling back the curtain. Once you see how something works, it becomes real. It’s no longer magic—it’s form, structure, and logic.
Nostalgia appears in these works through the presence of recognizable illustrated characters, some drawn directly, others echoing the styles of Disney or Hanna-Barbera. I’m fascinated by nostalgia—how a single image or object can summon powerful feelings for the past. But my relationship to nostalgia is complicated. I moved around a lot as a kid and didn’t have the continuity of friendships or family stories to solidify those memories. I experience nostalgia more by proxy—through the emotional weight these images carry for others. I explore that secondhand sentiment—the longing for something just out of reach, just on the edge of memory.
This series is a reflection of how I process the world—through observation, dissection, and reinterpretation. By layering physical objects, mechanical structures, and nostalgic imagery, I’m not just telling stories—I’m building them, piece by piece. These works are meant to invite the viewer in, first through feeling, then through recognition, and finally through curiosity. My hope is that each piece offers a moment of connection—whether it’s a memory sparked, a mechanism understood, or simply the comfort of knowing that chaos, too, can be made into something beautiful.
To view these pieces on the Moberg Galleries website follow link below.
https://moberggallery.com/product-category/artist/joshua-bowers/