WHAT THEY FOUND marks the debut solo show of FLATFILE artist Joy Whalen, who was discovered by FLATFILE’s director Susan Aurinko during an undergraduate portfolio review at Columbia College Chicago. Whalen’s work is an aggregate of multiple styles including Animé and comic book art, incorporating elements of formal composition and references to Medieval art and Greek Mythology among other historical allusions. After winning numerous awards and scholarships while earning her BFA at Columbia, Whalen was described by Columbia professor Jay Wolke as “painting twenty years beyond her age”. She is currently earning her MFA at the Pratt Institute of Art in New York City.