In episode 371 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Joe Giles.
Joe is an artist and creates, in his words, intuitive abstract paintings rooted in emotional expression rather than planned composition.
We came across Joe through his interview on friend of the pod JD and his platform, ‘What’s On Your Mind?’.
Joe’s life story is not what you’d expect. He was born in Sussex in the South East of England. However, he was raised in a religious cult.
The cult controlled every aspect of Joe and his family’s life; education, work, and thought.
He wasn’t allowed to watch TV, radio and never had a holiday.
His father left the cult when he was just eight years old and from that point was raised by his mother.
Seven years ago, in August 2019, he was ex-communicated from the cult and was able to escape the cult. However, he has never spoken to his mum or his two sisters ever again.
Thankfully, he was able to reconnect with his dad, and his brother left one year after Joe in 2020. He now lives in London and can see him occasionally.
At 29 years old, he was thrust into a world he had no idea how to navigate and had been sheltered from for his whole life up to that point.
To unpack and heal from the trauma he had gone through with the cult, he tried CBT therapy and other methods but what helped him the most was art and painting.
He took up painting in 2025 after going through several mental health difficulties at the same time. He experienced the loss of a relationship break-up, lost his job and his dream apartment.
As a result, he had an identity crisis, and painting was his therapy to get through that period and has now become his passion.
In this episode we chart this journey from cult survivor to artist, reuniting with his father, discovering art, its power to heal and everything in-between.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can find out more about Joe’s artwork here.
You can follow Joe on social media below:
Support Us:
