Joshua Clay

Joshua Clay was born in the Midwest in the early 80's. Starting in his early youth, his illustrative approach centered on doing battle with the hordes of pirates and ninjas who found their way scrawled into the margins of his homework with his trusty 2H pencil. After several trips to the principal's office for violating the "Don't draw on your homework" rule, Joshua decided that painting would be a better direction. Once in the real world, this led him to study Media Arts and Animation at the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, IL. He continued to develop his passion and skills in illustration at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI. With a solid direction and appreciation for the Pop Surrealism movement, Joshua decided to move to the most surreal place in America, Los Angeles. But after a few struggling years, Joshua found his work being shown in prominent galleries world wide. These high profile showings caught the eye of Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor who recruited Clay to travel abroad with the musician to create artwork for the concept album "Year Zero". Clay's art is dominated by the languid female form. Most often rosy-cheeked and portrayed with billowing and flowing fabric like action, the artist attempts to capture the sense of a single glance in time. "I portray my women as sexy and strong as well as vulnerable and sad. There is something beautiful in sadness, sadness softens the heart. I usually portray my figures in motion or with their hair in motion to symbolize capturing a fleeting moment, because it is these moments which often dictate very significant parts of our lives but they are so often taken for granted." - Joshua Clay