hi hi hi!
I’ve been meaning to write this for weeks, but my workshop and my brain are in complete chaos. I’ve been getting ready for a solo show at the Morbid Anatomy Library, and oh my gosh. I feel very unprepared. BUT! the art is all done and waiting to get packed into our car. We’ll be leaving for Brooklyn tomorrow morning and are heading straight to the library to set things up. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve been seeing the pieces over the last few weeks, but in case you havent, here are some.
This collection started as some scribbled down thoughts on a notepad last year. A loved one had just been given a very scary prognosis, and thinking about her death hit hard. My brain kept going back to … how do i prepare for this? how do i get my brain around it? and how do i actually get my brain around myself dying? or my husband? how do i get to grips with the thought of me dying, and not being able to comfort the ones i’ve left behind? it was all of these, ‘how, how, how’ questions. and after sitting with that… it slowly started dawning on me, that i didnt need to know ‘how’. there is no ‘knowing how’, thats completely impossible. then my brain said, “well, then… what? what CAN we do?” and thats when acceptance hit me. and it was a huge, gigantic relief. Instead of giving myself this epic, impossible job, this huge, huge weight and responsibility… instead of all of that, i just need to accept that all of these things will indeed happen. They are inevitable. and that’s ok. Death happens. Grief happens. They just do. and then, as that started sinking in… images and words started emerging, and it was lovely. so. that is what this show is all about. It’s about the beauty that started emerging from the bleakness and the weight.
Each realization was stitched into linen, and then a doll or a scene with dolls started taking shape. Each time I wrote down a sentence (i did this so many times, on so many little scraps of paper. i keep finding them all over the house, they scattered like little mice), I digested the words again, and understood them on a deeper level. For me, it was therapeutic and extremely helpful.
If you happen to be in NYC this weekend and want to stop by and see the show, that would be amazing. All of the art will be available for sale first at the library, and then online. There has also been a wee booklet printed with all of the art, which will be for sale on Monday, via Morbid Anatomy. If you cant come see the show (and sadly miss out on the sight of me, biting my fingernails underneath a chair because im such a nervous wreck), you can also see everything on my website.
Until next time,
xo
jana
Congratulations and Good luck .... you will astound anyone who comes.... your work is amazing....
Jana you are such an incredible artist and your artistry is beyond fabulous! I am so excited that you are having a show in new york! I really wish I could see it in person, and you as well! Best to you! Remember to breathe and enjoy this time....