Joyce Treasure (b. 1965 Birmingham, UK) lives in London. She graduated with a BA Hons, first class degree, in Black Studies from Birmingham City University in 2020. Her work has been shown internationally, including 198 Contemporary Gallery, London (2023); Lapworth Museum, Birmingham (2022 / 2021); Stryx Gallery, Birmingham (2022); Grand Union, Birmingham (2020); Tate, Liverpool (2018); Selfridges, Birmingham (2018); Lovely Gallery, London (2016); Sacred Art, Wales (2016); Peckham Space, London (2012); Kijkruimte, Amsterdam, (2012); Deptford X, London (2012); Space Station Sixty Five, London (2010); Mediamatic BANK Amsterdam, Amsterdam (2008); ICA, London (2007).
Acquisitions of work include Bruntwood, Birmingham and Winchester University, and she was awarded an arts residency at Grand Union and Bruntwood, where she now sits on the board as a trustee. Residencies include working with Lapworth Museum and Black Art Forum in 2021 and 2022. Following the launch of Stryx VR gallery space, Joyce was awarded a SPOT VR Residency in Jan 2022. In addition to being an awardee of the Womxn of Colour Art Award, 2022, from 198 Contemporary Arts Gallery, she facilitates workshops working 1-2-1 and with groups and was the recipient of an Arts Council, DYCP fund.
Her multidisciplinary practice explores the hidden dimensions of mythology and ritual, examining how changing climates and colonial legacies exert on bodies, places, and overall well-being. Navigating the intersection of politics, care, and satire, she transforms assemblages of objects and images into allegories of lived experiences. Embracing a diverse array of mediums, including collage, sculpture, painting, drawings, performance, film, new technology, and speculative writing, her practice becomes an exploration of the intricate relationships between human narratives and the evolving world around us.
She often starts her creative process with a free-form approach, drawing inspiration from a range of objects. These objects, seen as elements of recycling aesthetics, serve as catalysts. She is interested in the delicate balance of power and fragility that ebbs and flows between the individual and the collective, the personal and social.