The images from Conversations with Myself, are multi-layered visual dialogues that intimately explore Jo Ann Chaus’s relationships, between and within herself, others and the world.
Inspired by a collection of found and inherited garments and objects, varied locations and good light, she conjures up cinematic tableaus that draw on memory and cultural iconography using herself as the main subject and performs what appears to be a moment captured in time, living in both the present and the past simultaneously.
The collection, a selection from a larger body of work, represent the sense of a self she explores and the bridge she has been constructing between the past and the present, personally and collectively, as she searched to understand her current state of existence as influenced by her family, heritage, society, personal desires and motivations, challenges, hurdles and relationships she recognizes and value, as she accessed many deep, authentic, raw places buried within.
These images instigate if and to what degree the terrain has shifted, as we collectively consider each scenario from the perspective of ourselves, male and female, our mothers, and our daughters.
JO ANN CHAUS
Jo Ann is a visual artist based in the New York metropolitan area who explores the complexity of her identity as a woman, wife, mother and independent individual. She drew from her personal history, cultural mores, and traditional constructs and influenced by her background in fashion, interest in psychology, and the nature of human relationships. She is an alumnus of ICP, has self-published a monograph, Sweetie & Hansom, based on her family of origin, and is completing Conversations with Myself, which explores her identity and her relationship with herself.
In 2016 Jo Ann self-published “Sweetie & Hansom”, a 60 image book with the original text, about her parents, siblings and husband. She continues to create images for “Conversations with Myself”, her work of self-portraiture that uses light, location, and a curated collection of props and garments to build a bridge between the present and the past in this 75+ body of work referencing women, family and identity.
Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and she holds special recognitions and awards: Critical Mass 200, 2019, PDN Emerging Photographer FALL 2019 Winner, Winner 13th Pollux Awards non-professional category, Klompching 2019 Fresh! Finalist, Candela Unbound8! Juried exhibition, 14th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards Honorable Mention, Juror’s Choice South East Center for Photography Portrait Exhibition 2019, Permanent collection at the Center for Creative Photography, Tuscon, AZ, Qualities of Light Exhibition.