The journey for this native Californian artist, Joni Pakes, started in the fifth grade with the showing of a mixed media piece at the local Bank of America. She learned to experiment with various mediums, utilizing her father’s vast garage storehouse of supplies. His skill as a woodworking craftsman and studio prop master influenced his daughter to integrate fine art with unusual materials.
Her work embodies shape and texture similar to a bas relief, reminiscent of ancient civilizations, fossilized relics encased in boxes, collections. She juxtaposes hard-edge geometrics with free-flowing organic forms, building up surfaces, then sanding down. “I sometimes imagine myself as an archeologist, eroding, unearthing, discovering interesting objects and surfaces. I love the mystery of uncovering the final “find”. You’re never sure what might be revealed.”
Pakes obtained a B. A. in Fine Art and a Secondary Teaching Credential in Art at CSUN, studying with noted artists Karen Carson and Bruce Everett.She currently lives in scenic Newport Beach, California which inspires her everyday by its nature-infused landscape. Her careers have been varied, but the passion for art, her work, has always been a constant.