Bio
Joseph Christiana is an interdisciplinary visual artist working in resin, oil, and encaustic wax. His paintings and mixed-media works have been exhibited in galleries and institutions along the East Coast, and his films have screened at independent festivals and received distribution.
He earned a BFA in Visual Art and Design from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Christiana began his career in architectural visualization and currently serves as Creative Director for a New York–based design firm, where he leads spatial and experiential projects.
He currently lives in Hubbardsville, New York, where he is converting a historic barn into Barnstorm Studios, soon to be an open working studio and exhibition space.
Select CV
Chenango Arts Council | Norwich, NY | 2026
Collapse & Convergence, solo exhibition
Earlville Opera House | Earlville, NY | 2026
Solo Exhibition ‘Incidence and Emergence’
Brine & Stave | Hamilton, NY | 2026
Featured Solo Artist
New Hope Arts | New Hope, PA | 2026
“Naked in New Hope” group exhibition
Skylands Museum, NJ Teen Arts | 2026
‘METAmorphasis’ Group Exhibition, invited artist speaker
Syracuse Arts Festival | Syracuse , NY | 2026
Exhibiting artist, juried festival
Arts at the Palace | Palace Theater | Hamilton, NY | 2025–2026
Exhibiting artist; invited speaking artist, Annual Winter at the Palace Gala
25 Main Collective Gallery, Cherry Valley, NY | 2025
“Elemental” group exhibition
Syracuse Arts Festival | Syracuse , NY | 2025
Exhibiting artist, juried festival
25 Main Collective Gallery, Cherry Valley, NY | 2025
“Inspired by a Book” group exhibition
Arts at the Palace | Lower Lake, Hamilton, NY | 2025
Featured Solo Artist
Makes Alley Art Collective | Lambertville and Frenchtown, NJ | 2023- Present
Active exhibiting member. 2023-2024 Spring, Fall, and Summer Exhibitions
Skylands Museum | Lafayette, NJ | 2024-Present
Four works acquired for Museum’s permanent collection.
Main Avenue Galleria | Ocean Grove, NJ | 2020-2024
Represented Artist. Participated in 2020-2024 Ocean Grove Spring Fling Art Festivals. 2020-2024 Fall Art Harvest Festivals along with other local art events.
Casa Bizarro | Frenchtown, NJ | 2024-2026
Represented artist.
Red Queen Gallery, Onancock, VA | 2022-2025
Represented Artist.
White Space Event Gallery | Hackettstown, NJ | 2023-2025
Represented artist. “2024 Spring Group Exhibition.”
George Segale Studios | Sparta, NJ | 2020-2022
Represented artist. 2020 “All in the Family” two artist exhibition.
Bishop Stock Art Gallery | Snow Hill, MD | 2022
“Incidents and Digressions” solo exhibition.
Artist Statement
I’m interested in exploring the representation of the human body as psychic condition. Working in encaustic wax- a medium I choose for its resistance and physicality- I build forms through a process of accumulation and excavation. Layers are built, fused, then scraped back– a cycle of accretion and dissolution that produces figures in a state of simultaneous emergence and collapse.
I often use mythology as conceptual touchpoint rather than instructive narrative. Mythological figures provide an emotional framework, opening a space through which to investigate psychic state that connects the temporal with the eternal.
The surface quality resulting from this process creates tension between representation and abstraction, control and surrender, meaning and disorder. Through this practice I explore contradictory states: being and disappearance, condemnation and mercy, ecstasy and sorrow.