Jemima Joél
Jemima Joél, Somebody Come Get Ya Grandma From The DJ, acrylic on wood, 48x36 inches, 2021
Jemima Joél, Separated Labor, acrylic on wood, 11x14 inches, 2024
Jemima Joél, You Forgot This, 8 x 12 inches, acrylic on wood, 2024
Jemima Joél, Take Me To The River, acrylic on wood, 14x16 inches, 16x18 inches, 14x16 inches each, 2024
Jemima Joél is a singer and visual artist from Algiers in New Orleans, Louisiana. Joél works to integrate how the experience of seeing visual artists and hearing music co-exists. Joél is a black folk artist that uses her works to create conversations around how American history affects today’s social climate to promote healing and understanding. Her works are very imaginative and often a needed discomfort that allows people to connect with their emotions. She explores how the current black family unit is a product of a past. Her art style is most inspired by the works of Lina Iris Viktor, Kerry James Marshall, Andrew Lamar Hopkins, and John Holyfield. Her primary medium is acrylic paint on wood canvas, but she also enjoys jewelry making and digital art.
She began learning art in high school at Sophie B. Wright Charter School. She then went on to study Sociology and African American Studies at Loyola University, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science.
Joél discovered her love for singing growing up alongside her mother and sister singing at her childhood home Baptist church. She performs at local music venues in the city and writes her own song lyrics as well as records music. She has released over six original songs and has had her local TV debut on WWL-TV Morning News on Juneteenth of 2024.