bio

The memory held in objects is a central theme of Joanne Steinhardt's work. Remnants of tattered rags, 50-year-old valises, tree stumps, knitting, and other non-traditional materials are her mediums. Steinhardt's use of saved and discarded items plays with the viewer's definition of utility and beauty, calling on the emotional connection created when presumed usefulness has passed.

Steinhardt's artwork has been exhibited at the Tampa Museum of Art, Polk County Museum, and Covivant Gallery. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Maine College of Art and a Bachelor of Science in Photography from the RIT School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. She has lectured and led workshops at numerous institutions around the US and abroad, including NYU Tisch ITP, the Harrison School for the Arts, and La Biennale del fin del Mundo in Ushuaia, Argentina.

Previously, Steinhardt achieved tenure in both the Art and Communication Departments at the University of Tampa where she conceived a multidisciplinary Electronic Media Art and Technology Program designed to support those interested in a self-directed academic Major combining art, communication, English, music, computer information systems, and entrepreneurship.

artist statement

I embrace themes of returning and rebirth in all of my work. Once a year, during the Hebrew month of Elul, the concept of teshuvah, returning to our most pure selves through embracing our neshama, soul or spirit, is practiced to move forward into the new annual cycle in a clean and humble state as a basis for the year ahead. The personal and continuous ritual in my work is adapted from the process of teshuvah. The artwork is my process of returning to my most pure self. My materials are collected from the past of my family and friends and transformed. They are remnants of tattered rags embroidered, tiny environments filling a 50-year-old valise, an antique top and a bowler hat, a cast iron and a brass pan, a toilet, and repurposed photographs. The complex relationships of the family inhabit my work. I also inhabit it, separate from them, by creating collages of memories and stories that have become family lore. With this, I create a bridge between my worldly self and my neshama. The Tiny Things project is all mine, but the spirits that inhabit it help me find myself. Through the work, I hope to get back to my more elemental self. At the same time, I am driven to create space for the viewer to connect to the work, and this way to themselves.