Joseph Adolphe
Joseph Adolphe was born in Calgary, Canada. After receiving his MFA in New York City Joseph continued to live in the United States. His paintings have been featured in numerous exhibitions both within the U.S. and abroad. Within his body of work, there is a rich diversity of subjects all of which speak to an underlying conviction that the world our senses perceive reflect deeper metaphysical connections to the world within us. His paintings share an underlying interest in the universal yet also reflect an intimate autobiographical context that seeks to come to terms with those forces that shape his life. As much as Joseph strives to capture the physical essence of a created thing he also tries to give form to the forces that shape the created thing.
Joseph is also a Professor in the Department of Art and Design at St. John’s university in New York city where he teaches drawing and painting. Joseph is married and has 7 wonderful children.
A Floating world.
Joseph Adolphe, July 2025
This story has a happy ending.
A few years ago, a young woman very close to me was stricken with a severe mental health crisis. Broken bones I can deal with, a broken mind is a form of injury that elicits the most painful forms of helplessness. During this period, I noticed the appearance of these very small origami pieces. Small horses, birds, cranes and dragons began popping up around our house. It became apparent that these small paper sculptures where a part of a long healing process. I can’t say that this sprang from a conscious decision, but I knew that one of the best ways for me to participate in this healing and rebuilding was to make paintings of these little origami works. Although all the work within “A floating world” series reflects my attempt to make sense of the issues at hand, the paintings involving the birds come closest to expressing the true anguish, frustration and hopes of all of us involved. Sometimes the bird is alone, sometimes with another bird, sometimes with three birds, sometimes birds are in a storm. In the end what emerged was a visual record of the journey from crises and despair to hope and healing—never in a straight path, but always forward.