Joseph Isaac (b.1994 Sydney, Australia)

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Joseph Isaac is a cross-disciplinary artist based in Sydney, working in a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, virtual reality, and other technologies. His work explores the experiences of a young Jew in contemporary multicultural Australia, seeking to form a conceptually informed view on Judaica art. With his upbringing as the son of a Rabbi and his departure from the faith at the age of eighteen, Joseph is particularly interested in the themes of place, tradition, cultural memory, and ancestry.

 

In 2014, Joseph held his first solo exhibition, which was inspired by the streetscapes of Sydney and featured energetically vivid abstract images of the city. He went on to curate the show 'Gravitas' in 2016, featuring fellow Sydney artists, and has exhibited in group shows at Ambush gallery and other venues. He is a finalist of the Muswellbrook Art Prize and has received a grant to create a public sculpture for the Nox three-day sculpture walk with Randwick Council in 2019.

 

Joseph's early works drew on experimental gestures of figures and streetscapes of Sydney under the name Yossi, but his current work utilizes Judaica items, Jewish artifacts, and his understanding of the Torah to explore the flux state of contemporary Judaism. Through his art, Joseph thoughtfully critiques social systems and beliefs, pushing communities to engage thoughtfully and generating dialogue for social progress. He documents human and spatial scapes to express collective emotions.

 

In 2022, Joseph graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Sculpture, Performance, and Installation at UNSW Art & Design. He continues to move forward into Conceptual Art and engage with his Australian Jewish heritage to create works that engage with the community.