Born in Barcelona in1952, Joseph was remarkably talented in drawing as a child. His grandfather and father were carpenters and furniture craftsmen. As a result, Joseph grew up surrounded by the tools and discipline of these fine and expert artisans. Handsaws, chisels, files, planks, nails, hammers and different types of glues were the materials he had during his childhood experiences. It was expected that he would enter the family business and there he learned about hard work and ethics. He observed their strike attention to detail, neatness and their desire to do things well. These behaviors would guide him throughout his life and influence his development as an artist.
As Domenech's flair for drawing grew, his great ambition was to become a professional artist. He began taking private lessons in drawing and attended art classes, while continuing to help work at his father's Master workshop. He became enamored with Impressionsim during his studies and joined fellow students to the open countryside to paint the "plain aire" method. He has a belief that no artist is self-made, but must learn from others. This conviction made him an insatiable and diligent student and an insightful observer of the world around him. In his studies, he worked in all media, developing his own artistic "voice" and "vocabulary" incorporating his genetc interest and knowledge of materials as an artisan and love of textures.
Domenech does not work with traditional painting tools. He does not employ brushes- he "paints" using pieces of cotton fabric and using his fingers. He removes instead of adding; he aims for synthesis. At one time when he was a student, he had to economize on materials and would work with Id rags that had been used to polish furniture in the carpentry workshop, to apply paint to the canvas. He still likes to work with rags, but only of the highest quality. The surface of a Domenech painting looks like woods because of the way he treats his material. He uses a limited palette range of ochre and black. White comes from the background, from the paste he uses for preparation of the canvas, which turns into dazzling light in dilution. The only brush in his studio is one hanging from the ceiling as a talisman. He uses a form of impasto, building up layer after layer of paint on his canvas. Amongst Domenech's accolades, he has won innumerable awards for painting in his career. He has been honored with many museum exhibitions, academic acclaims and museum acquisitions.
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