Joseph Sloan was born in 1940 in Warrenpoint, Co. Down. He is a self-taught artist, specialising in sculpture and wood engraving. After a score of different jobs, Sloan studied for and worked in professional theatre for nine years. A production took him to Liverpool where he met Brian Burgess. Burgess allowed Sloan the use of his studio, encouraging him to sculpt and bringing about an inevitable change of career.

He is influenced by human activities, using sculpture to embrace the magic and mystery of humankind and the many sides of its nature, music, pleasures and strivings.

Sloan is also a printmaker, and his work has been used in book illustration.

His work has been exhibited widely in Europe and can be found in public and private collections internationally.