BIO
JOANNA CUTRI is a worldly, soulful, and fiercely creative Los Angeles-born visual artist whose practice spans continents and cultures.
Working primarily in mixed mediums- incorporating acrylic, ink, graphite, and oil on canvas- her signature style blends translucent washes, textured surfaces, and fluid, dreamlike forms-often rendered in a muted, monochromatic palette that evokes calm and introspection. From intimate studies to expansive panels spanning up to seven feet, her work doesn't shout; it whispers, exploring themes of spiritual quietude, impermanence, memory, and the subtleties of emotional states with a soft, dreamlike quality that stays with you.
Joanna's artistic vision has been profoundly shaped by a life lived around the globe and deep cultural immersion. She spent a decade living and working in Bali, Indonesia, where the spiritual richness and lush natural environment fundamentally influenced her creative voice. Deeply personal yet universal in tone, her work reflects an enduring fascination with light, nature, and creative devotion. While an artist residency with the Nock Art Foundation brought her to China’s Zhangjiajie Mountains and later to the French Basque coast. These experiences, along with earlier studies in Cortona, Italy, continue to influence her thematic focus on impermanence, spirituality, and emotional nuance.
Her significance lies in her ability to blend Eastern and Western aesthetics into a contemporary visual language. She redefines and pushes the boundaries of mixed mediums by fusing intuitive mark-making with immersive, atmospheric layering, creating a visual language that merges poetic restraint with modern abstraction. Themes that quietly inform both her subject matter and process are cultural hybridity, spiritual reawakening, and climate consciousness.
Joanna holds a BFA from the University of Georgia, where she also studied abroad in Cortona, Italy. After several years in New York City, she now lives and works in Southern California. Her work has been collected internationally and exhibited in solo and group shows throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, South Africa, the United States, and Europe. Beyond traditional gallery spaces, her paintings frequently appear in luxury interiors, high-end design projects, hospitality environments, and lifestyle spaces that emphasize serenity, sensory experience, and beauty-reflecting a practice that continues to evolve through curiosity, nuance, and poetic form.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings are a visual narrative of all my life experiences resulting in a dynamic, multi-layered surface. They evoke curiosity to what lies beneath the complexities of textures and materials. Memories, emotions and ideas are processed and expressed by experimenting with mixed mediums allowing the final painting to just happen. The final piece reveals itself in an intuitive manner. It is a fluid process of discovery, chance happenings, resolution and evolution. It is a visual story telling of my history, culture, experiences and imprints of life expressed. I create my art the way I live my life, remaining open to the possibility of what can be. The cathartic act of creating is an organic and intuitive meditation in motion.
CV
Born: Pasadena, CA
Solo and Group Exhibitions:
2025 Hampton Designer Showcase House, Southampton, NY
2025 Legends, Design LA, Collective Form, Los Angeles, CA
2024 L'image Art Exhibition, Santa Barbara, CA
2023 San Diego Design Expo, San Diego, CA
2022 River North Design District Gallery Walk, Daniel Kinkade Fine Art, Chicago, IL
2022 Seasons of Heaven, joint exhibition, Chateau Charleval, Provence, France
2021 Fog Shades solo exhibition, Esqueleto, San Diego, CA
2020 Pop-Up group exhibition, Adore Gallery at The Forum, Carlsbad, CA
2019 New Emerging Art group exhibition, L & G Projects Art Gallery, La Jolla, CA
2018 Arts Gowanus Open Studios, Lumena, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Indigo Girls solo exhibition, Gallery Des Artistes Art Gallery, New Hope, PA
2016 Musee Asiatica group exhibition, Biarritz, France
2015 The Zhang Jia Jie Collection solo exhibition, Ping On Lane, Hong Kong
2014 Artist in Residency group exhibition, The Nock Art Foundation, Hong Kong
2013 Hexagon solo exhibition, Taksu Gallery/ W Hotel, Bali, Indonesia
2012 DIFFA group exhibition, Dallas, TX
2012 Joanna Cutri solo exhibition, Grand Provence Estate Gallery, Western Cape, South Africa
2011 An Ambitious Project is Brewing group exhibition, Naka Contemporary Art Gallery, Bali, Indonesia
2011 I am Anonymous solo exhibition, VanOver Fine Arts Gallery, Springville, NY
2011 Lacuna solo exhibition, Manyung Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2010 True Self group exhibition, Nexus Modern Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Beauty in Impermanence solo exhibition, Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort, Bali, Indonesia
2009 City Scapes solo exhibition, Deefusion Gallery, Bali, Indonesia
2008 Hearts and Flowers group exhibition, Folk Tree Collection, Pasadena, CA
2008 Landscapes of My Life solo exhibition, Conrad Bali Resort and Spa, Bali, Indonesia
Private Collections:
Chateau Charleval, Provence, France
The Gene Autry Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Sentosa Villas, Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia
Pandawas Villas, Ubud, Bali Indonesia
Residency Programs:
2014 The Nock Art Foundation, Hong Kong and Hunan, China
Education:
2005 The Arts Student League, New York, NY
1998 Bachelors of Fine Arts, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
1996 University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program, Cortona, Italy
1994-1996 Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH
1993 Visual Arts Diploma, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA