Joanne Topol’s art reflects inner feelings that cannot be accessed through analytic thought.These feelings are revealed through the color, shape, tone and texture choices she makes on an instinctive, intuitive level. Although intuition drives her imagination, she still relies on linear, logical thinking when confronting questions of space and composition. To successfully integrate the analytical with the unconscious, she must find a way to orchestrate a dance between the two.
As she digs deeper into the creative process of painting, she is continually searching for novel ways to orchestrate that dance. By listening to audiobooks while she paints, she discovered that the regions of the brain needed to execute those tasks are able to function more effectively together than when each task is tackled on its own. In other words, she paints more expressively and processes literature more comprehensively when she engages in both activities at the same time. But more importantly, by forcing both those regions of her brain to work simultaneously, the integration of the intuitive and the logical becomes organic.
In addition to her accomplishments as a visual artist, Topol earned a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the California Institute of Technology in 1990. Parallel pursuits of art and science began during her undergraduate years at Brown University, and continued at the University of Michigan, where she earned her Masters in Human Genetics. While pursuing her doctorate at Caltech, she attended classes at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. In addition, she has studied monotype and collage techniques at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena.
It is the spirit of adventure and discovery in the artistic process that inspires Topol to paint, just as it drew her to scientific research many years ago. She sees other similarities in the creative processes of art and science: both involve risk-taking and rule breaking, and both require that dance. But as a visual artist, more so than as a scientist, she is willing to let her imagination guide her, despite the risk that entails. She lets her sense of calm and balance, movement and energy inform her, even though she is left without the proper words to describe her intent.
Topol has been painting full-time and selling her artwork since 2000.