Joel Barber is a technician, rendering subtle illustrative narratives with many layers of pattern and visual texture that are worked out in elaborate processes and experiments. In this surreal series, Joel draws inspiration from classic Japanese printmaking, disaster dreams, science fiction, Pacific Northwest wildlife and the volcanoes of our Cascade Range. Joel is an Oregon native, living in Portland.

"I'm intrigued by the balance between surface treatment and the content of the piece. I want evolved images that are both expressive and narrative. At it’s simplest, I wanted to draw our volcanos exploding around us; however, it turned into a collection of serene and quiet scenes in the midst of destruction and cataclysmic events. I think subconscious metaphors work their way into everything.”