Local artist, student finds healing through ‘Candy Coated Chaos’

For Joe Masek, art is about more than just the finished product — it is about everything the artist has gone through before the brush ever touches the canvas.

At age 12, Masek was abandoned by his parents and spent the next six years of his life being passed around between various orphanages and foster homes. It was also during this dark time in his life that he began drawing.

“At the time, I didn’t really see any deeper value,” Masek said.

But now that Masek is making the final preparations for his final project as a pre-art therapy major, he sees all of the pent-up emotion that art can release and the healing power it can produce.

“Candy Coated Chaos” is Masek’s finished project and a testament to all that can be healed through art and personal exploration.

The exhibit will be shown at 5 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday at The Lodge and will feature the artwork of Masek and various local artists.

Friday’s showing will include a silent auction and raffle, from which all proceeds will benefit The Middle Way House, which provides shelter for abused women and children, and Committed to Freedom Ministries, which provides healing for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

“I believe that there is a direct link between abuse survivors and art,” Masek said. “Abused children are forced to cope in creative ways.”

Masek said through all of the hardship he has overcome in his life, he has been able to make sense of his chaotic existence through art. He has also helped many others do the same.

Caitlin Taylor became friends with Masek before they began discussing their shared love of painting. Though Taylor said she has yet to establish her own style, she and Masek bonded when he learned that they use a similar therapeutic process while painting.

“To me, art is about conveying all of your emotions in a physical form,” Taylor said. “But there is such a difference between looking at the finished product and seeing the emotional journey behind it, and that’s where the artist’s story lies.”

Alongside Taylor’s work there will also be many pieces drawn by children in the foster home where Masek grew up.

“Kids just tend to be more open about their wounds,” Masek said. “For them it’s just playtime, but they are also coping with their emotions.”    

Though Masek said his journey is in his art, “Candy Coated Chaos” is just the
beginning.

After graduate school, Masek plans to open an art therapy complex for children with upbringings like his.

“I once looked up the meaning of the word ‘therapy,’” Masek said. “It means ‘to make good,’ and I plan to do just that.”