Joy Yamusangie is a British Congolese artist whose paintings and prints are vibrant with the colour of their daily life. Working across a wide range of materials and contexts, Joy’s practice expands through collaborations with brands like Gucci on the project WATA, participating in a residency at WPU Japan, and inspiring through print workshops in London. Connection and selfhood are key features of their work, with Joy’s vivid emotion speaking to a universal truth of feeling. Their prints capture important moments that serve as a personal archive.
Fire, Joy’s newest group exhibition is hosted by Twilight Contemporary until Saturday 31st January. Across these works, fluidity and the potentiality of transformation are explored in our current artistic landscape, in which Joy positions their art as a documentation of desire and heat. Love has a clear lens, with works like Boxer 1, Boxer 2, Boxer 3, presenting the vulnerability of what it means to live, and love everyday.
Emotive scenes by the artist are wrapped in loyalty, care and admiration for the moments that we find ourselves in. The strength of their art grows from a warm sharp eye on what they encounter. Locating moments of passion, it’s easy to self-reflect on our own emotional histories as we recognise ourselves in these shared lived experiences. Our memories flicker from the archive of the work.
Joy’s use of colour is distinct in their visual language, recalling memories from Kinshasa, a city that “does not shy away from colour but plays with it”. Striking colour elevates their heart-felt quality and deep instinct, with self-portraiture working as an act of self love and study. Joy talks through their creative highlights and artistic process, tracking their artistic journey to exploring a favourite exhibition, Feeling Good which blended the intimacy of the domestic with moments of vitality. Joy shares on their knowledge of wider creative fields, like music and poetry, which propels their vision of full and unguarded self-expression. Their art reflects atmospheres of love, deep rich shades of feeling and the heat of a full heart.
Hold & Kiss part 3
Hey Joy! How’s it going? What are you currently working on, and what’s been occupying your mind alongside the making?
It’s going well! Right now, I am in my studio, sketching matchbox designs which will be party favours for two close friends of mine that are getting married soon. I have a lot of fun with projects that are for people I love as there’s never any rules.
Yeh, you’ve described your practice as a way of documenting your life. What’s your favourite photograph you’ve ever taken — or one taken of you — and why does it feel significant?
It’s not one photo but a few polaroids I have up at my studio of my friends who’ve visited. I don’t often have guests in my space, it feels very small and intimate but these portraits have such nice memories attached.
Your focus is on printwork. I liked that you ran print workshops at The Royal Docks as a part of a previous project. It’s a nice way to connect with community. What questions or feelings did you hope visitors would carry with them as they left?
The attendees of the workshop were about three years old. They came with so much enthusiasm and interest in print, I hope that their curiosity and confidence in art only continues to grow. It’s so easy to get discouraged as we grow up and feel like ‘I can't draw’ but honestly some of my favourite drawings I’ve kept are from friends who would never describe themselves as artists at all.
Do you have a favourite moment of creation from when you were a student? What is a piece that stands out to you from that time?
I was very interested in stop-motion animation, I’d get up early and make figures out of plasticine or film stop motion tests in the park. It stands out to me as it wasn’t graded, it wasn’t for an exhibition, I didn’t have any social media then, it just grew out of curiosity and that was exciting.
Baby I Love You
Creating for exploration is the best part about being a student. You’ve mentioned that encouragement, and seeing a strong creative art department made you realise, “I can actually do this.” Can you talk about that moment for you?
I wasn’t taught about Black artists in education however when it came to college I was shown this by the very people who taught me, my teachers were Black women artists. They showed me so many examples of art by living Black artists and helped make this dream of mine feel more tangible and within reach. I started calling myself an artist then.
As you’ve grown older, what feels like the main shift in your art, and what’s one thing you’re proud has remained unchanged?
I’m really proud of the pace in which I both make art and share it. The one thing that I feel hasn’t changed is how much I love drawing faces, if I ever feel stuck or unsure this has been the constant in my practice that I always come back to.
Where do you go on your down days? What’s your pick up routine, creatively or personally?
Truthfully, I stay home. I find being around lots of visual reminders of love helps energise me, from trinkets from my wife to film photos of friends and even artworks by artist friends too. What helps pick me up creatively is actually doing something active, football is my current sporty fixation at the moment and one of the things that I love about it is it gets me out of my solitary bubble.
Your exhibition Feeling Good captured the play between lively energy of club nights with the intimacy of a self-built environment. What was the feeling like for that project?
I wanted the paintings to feel real as if you were capturing glimpses of moments that have taken place in that space. It remains one of my favourite exhibitions to date as it was fun to design the space and have live music and live the dream of having my own bar.
You typically pair music with your artwork, you can find the track playlists on Spotify! What music genres are you drawn to? Is there a song you’ve got on repeat at the moment?
I know it’s so common to say but I really do like to listen to everything. I often put everything on shuffle and switch from genre to genre until I remember an album or song I wanna re-listen to. Right now, it’s Yaya Bey’s song real yearners unite.
Bisous
Indeed, range is nice. How would you describe your style, in and outside of art, in three words?
Emotions, printlike and bold (in colour). Outside of art, in terms of personal style: comfort, masculine and pockets.
Your current group show is titled Fire, how does that show up in your work?
The idea of fire is quite emotive to me and the theme made me think of parts of my work that feature intense feelings of desire or heat.
You’ve mentioned poetry and books informing your work, like Jackie Kay’s Trumpet. Any recent recommendations?
Where You Go, I Will Go by Christina Fonthes. Without spoiling, it is fiction about Queer love, faith and being Congolese which just spoke to so many aspects of my own identity that I never would have expected to read all at once in a book.
Previously you’ve noted that your rich colour palette is inspired by colours of Congo in connection to your heritage. Can you tell us more memories from your travels there and how you bring those experiences to your work?
I remember seeing so many homes painted so colourfully and sometimes with text or this giraffe-like print pattern along the sides. Kinshasa is not a city that shies away from colour but instead plays with it, making bold pairings and disobeying any colour rules. Which I try to learn from. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited in my life.
For 2026, what is something that you hope to see in art?
I hope that my work plays a tiny part in helping illustration be perceived as an art form that is no lesser than fine art itself.
Two Faced Boot!
At Last by Joy
Where There Is No Sun
Never Forget
And You Know Me Well