Fish imagery in art 71: Holland-Scholer’s The Story Joan Told

Abstract

The Story Joan Told was inspired by Karla Holland-Scholer’s teacher, Joan Brown, a professor of art at the University of California at Berkeley. In this small ceramic sculpture a women in a wet suit sits in a chair, holding a large fish on her lap. Such fish were a personal symbol for Brown, who was a competitive swimmer as well as an artist. She swam from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco and made several paintings based on this event. This sculpture honors Brown’s achievements and includes many of the symbols Brown liked to use in her own paintings -the fish, cat, and Alcatraz Island. Brown died in India in 1990, but her legacy to her students is still very much alive She encouraged her students to make art based on stories, dreams, myths, and folktales. Holland-Scholer is an artist and teacher who lives in Davis, California.