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an interview with Joyce Dibona
Steve asked, “How long will it take you do something like this?” Joyce scanned the walls. “Some of them come quickly, then it’s just a matter of completion. Some of them evolve, and I struggle, fight with them... I’ll take arms and hands out, change her complete face, then feel likeI had a breakthrough. Where it was finally headed in the direction it was going. And some of them just, ‘boom.’” I told her I noticed that a good part of her work had indigenous themes, of cultures that originated here in Texas and the Southwest before Europeans arrived. She pointed to a painting with two large winged icons dominating the canvas.“This is September. I think that a curtain was drawn on indigenous people when we came, the same type of curtain that was drawn on us when September 11 happened. I’m very sensitive to not ripping off a culture. I’ve researched Mayan and Aztec art, and have traveled a lot. I’ve tried to make the murals and painting in Jovita’s reflect that.” Jovita’s Restaurant is a stone’s throw from the Studio, separated by Bouldin Creek. We clamber down the cement steps to the water, then hop three boulders across to a large deck. Joyce unlocks the door to the infamous South Austin cantina, community center, and stage. Don Walser, Ponty Bone, the Red Elvises, Colin Gilmore, and many other hot bands regularly rock the nights at Jovita’s. Amazingly, along with being a full-time artist, Joyce is also the booking agent for the Restaurant. Mayo Pardo, the owner, is a good friend of Joyce’s and also owns the property where the DiBona Studio is housed. He’s the one who built the steps and patio, allowing passage between the properties. Inside Jovita’s, the walls are covered with Joyce DiBona artwork. Along one wall, flanking the stage, stretches an enormous mural, filled with a mix of ancient Mayan glyphs and pictographs, political iconography, portraits, animals, and monsters. Snaking above is a long green Quezoquatl. “This is almost a time line: it starts with Xochipilli, the god of flowers. Then it becomes the river of life — the Codex, a migration of the people. Here’s the eagle Warrior, and facing him is Marcos.” A masked caricature of Sub-comandante Marcos looks out toward Chiapas. “Here are the women of Chiapas: a student, little Jovita, and scenes from Chicano history. Then we go to the owl figure, an animal guide in my life.” The last two pictographs are ancient Mayan, abstract renditions of a foot and a hand, drawn in classic Mayan circular swirls and loops. “This is the footprint of humanity, ending with the Hand of God.” Under these are lines of sculls and pre-Columbian masks. It’s a huge amount of imagery, the colors and textures carefully arranged and crafted. Joyce took us on a tour of the interior, filled with additions by many other Austin artists. We ended up in the main hallway, where she had recreated what could have been the Honduran rainforest of Copán, complete with tangled jungle and myriad animals, including the sacred jaguar. Tendrils of vines snaked around the rafters and girders in the ceiling. “This was a lot of fun. It’s pretty great,” she said, smiling broadly, “to get to hang out, drink margaritas, and do this kind of painting.” Behind the bar hung one of Joyce’s floor cloths, another Quezoquatl dragon. The sheer range of her styles and creative reach started to spin my head like a pitcher of margaritas. As we headed back to the studio, Joyce talked about what’s become meaningful to her, in the 25 years since moving from Ohio, and the seven years since she dedicated herself to being a full-time artist. “My main rule I decided on is: I won’t do work that doesn’t mean something to me. You know, you have to paint an awful lot before you get any good at it. Even if you’re talented, I think. Then you have to be courageous. I mean, the worst thing that can happen to a painter is to become immensely successful too early. You have to fight against that, while trying to survive. Until,” she begins to laugh, “someone claims you as an overnight success —you’ll be like, 90, and say, ‘Yeah! I made it!’” Many of the art pieces in this article can be viewed at www.joycedibona.net. Contact Joyce DiBona at DiBona Studio, 404 W. Milton Street, Austin, Texas 78704; 512/851-2646. |
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