JOSEPH CONRAD-FERM (JUNE 12, 2016 – AUG 27, 2016)
Joseph Conrad-Ferm

Born in 1975, and raised in New Canaan, Connecticut, Ferm did not discover his need to paint until the winter of 2001.

“In late December of 2001, in the boiler room of my mother’s basement, with no reference point, I felt compelled to paint. Having no formal art training, apart from elementary and secondary school classes, my first efforts, while described as crude by some, were the foundation that I have built my creative voice on. I’ve been able to express the joys and pitfalls, of my total life experience, through a language that’s universal.”

With over 1,000 finished works, on paper, canvas, and wood, his paintings are in public and private collections worldwide. Ferm also has over 40 solo and group shows to his credit. “I don’t have a college art degree and I don’t have an art critics vocabulary. I paint when I’m feeling good and I paint when feeling otherwise. I find the right music to fit my mood and I go to work, though work is probably not the right word for it. It used to pour out of me, as fast as I could move the brush, though I’ve since learned to restrain my efforts. My recent process in the studio has become quite intense, by design. My intention is to reveal a complex and timeless process that is easy to engage.”

Ferms’ work is used extensively by interior designers, has been seen in design publications in the U.S. and Europe, and can be found on several television shows. He lives in the Hudson Valley of NY, with his wife Sarah Conrad-Ferm (also an artist) and their two boys. He is currently employed full time as a registered nurse, in a critical care setting, at two area hospitals.