“Chasing Sunlight” is a 36-by-48-inch acrylic painting by multidisciplinary artist Joy Strempack. This artwork will be exhibited at Fort Lauderdale’s ArtServe from October through December, which had its opening for this piece on October 2.
Created in 2006 and finished with a glossy resin topcoat, the piece draws your eye into a landscape of gold, yellow, and cream tones interrupted by deeper earth hues. However, its reflective surface catches the light that ends up creating an almost shifting glow.
But beneath its colors and textures is a story that began somewhere unexpected: with a song.
Joy and Guy Strempack aren’t strangers to the pulsing energy of Fort Lauderdale’s nightlife. The husband-and-wife DJ duo known as Joy to Soul have taken on spots like Fort Lauderdale’s Lobster Bar, Miso, and Sparrow. Their sound reaches beyond flashing lights, crowded dance floors, and nightlife spectacle, finding its deepest meaning in the stories carried between each note. They have quieter moments where the music feels less like a performance and more like a connection. That personal connection comes alive in “Chasing Sunlight,” a song Guy Strempack wrote nearly two decades ago whose message has remained with Joy ever since: even when darkness closes in, we have to keep fighting, keep moving forward and keep searching for the light.
From the layered strokes of an abstract canvas to the rhythm of a DJ set, Joy Strempack uses her hands to create across all paths. Born in Taipei and now based in Fort Lauderdale, the multidisciplinary artist, educator, graphic designer and musician creates emotion and culture into a visual and musical expression. Acrylic washes, expressive textures and calligraphic forms become reflections of resilience and story, while her work in digital design connects creativity with community.
She also has a master’s degree in Linguistics and Computer Science, and has spent nearly two decades as an educator at a middle school, and exhibitions including ArtServe’s The Art of Language. Joy Strempack, who is also the Creative Director for GoGreen EcoBins, brings both intellect and emotion to everything she creates. Whether behind the canvas, computer or DJ booth as DJ JoyJoy and Joy to Soul, her work carries the same throughline: using creativity to connect people, places and experiences.
At the center of Joy Strempack’s artistic experience is ‘Chasing Sunlight’, this is a 36-by-48-inch acrylic painting on canvas created in 2006 and finished with a glossy resin topcoat. Joy Strempack moves fluidly between abstract painting, calligraphy, digital design and music. She will often blend contemporary abstraction where one can see influences from her Taiwanese culture and heritage and artistic techniques.
But what makes ‘Chasing Sunlight’ even more unique is that it carries a story that reaches beyond the canvas. Created as a visual response to an original song of the same name written by her husband, Guy Strempack, the painting translates music into color, texture and light.
Gold, yellow and cream tones emerge through darker earth tones, while the glossy surface catches the light, creating an almost shifting glow. Nearly two decades later, the work still holds the same message that inspired both the song and canvas: even in our darkest moments, we have to keep fighting, moving forward and searching for the light.
The painting recently found a new home after selling through ArtServe, and for Joy and Guy Strempack, a song transformed into a painting, and it’s preserving one message in two different forms.
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