Josh Rockland
- Michael Hanna
- Apr 22
- 2 min read
Josh Rockland is a magical realism painter who has exhibited in the New York / New Jersey metropolitan area. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at the Greenpoint Gallery in New York, the duCret School of Art in East Hanover, New Jersey, and Morristown-Beard Preparatory Gallery in Morristown, New Jersey. Collective exhibitions include Khawam Gallery in East Hanover and Van Der Plas Gallery in New York. Josh is a recipient of the Paul Robeson Award from Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey.
These fantastical paintings employ dreamlike qualities combining the aesthetic of interiors directly from Josh’s childhood Victorian home and his current residence as well as the fusion and machinations of mythological and ocean environments. Being somewhat close to the Jersey Shore makes sense in regard to his connotations with the sea while the interiors are mostly based on his childhood home, the furniture, tiles, and objects such as attire are usually based on his current residence. In Josh’s paintings, beautiful women are juxtaposed against painted tiles and staircases while underwater explorers from the 19th century bask in the sea fused with interior elements.
The smooth, naturalistic tendencies of Josh’s paintings reflect pristine planes of consciousness and unconscious observations of his environments. His signature element would be his Victorian staircases integrated with figures, personal items which invoke reflective memory and identity, as well as oceanscapes. Varying between figurative and nonfigurative representations, Josh Rockland uses the figure as an interactive tool with his environments which enhances the angular compositions elements, while his depictions of oceanscapes and objects reflect fleeting moments of time and recollection. These paintings express a personal history and longing to bridge the past with immediate present through depictions and integration of past and present homes, symbolic items, mythological depictions such as Assyrian Sphynxes, beautiful women which compliment the open interior space, and the ocean fused with interior elements.
Diamonds in the Boredom (pictured above) remains an interesting painting which plays with manipulation of perspective. The Victorian interior becomes depicted both right side up and upside down at the same time with objects flying in the air such as a colorful tie and houseplants. As if a gush of wind has assembled into the interior, the various furnishings, fixtures, and drapes tilt to the right, hinting a distant door may be open or the interior remains exposed to the elements.
Josh Rockland depicts fascinating, imaginative scenes which reflect dream-like scenarios of combining elements with personal history as well as fantastical connotations and symbolism. His intricate works reflect great attention to detail, not just in technicality, but in strategically placed objects and manipulation of space. The combinative energy of fusing both current and past architectural elements combined with the aesthetics of the ocean and interesting figures, Josh expresses his personal identity through symbolism and metaphor. With an investigative approach, the paintings convey his New Jersey community, personal connections, and appreciation for how environments can be played with to invoke scenes of grand fantastical mystery and jubilation.
