Janna teaches weaving to passersby in Washington Square Park, New York City 2015
In my art practice I explore the ways in which environments can either enliven or thwart one's ability to be fully present. My work aims to create spaces, objects and ideas which are hospitable to the concepts of introspection, kindness and growth.
Being aware of ways-of-being that appear far from my own is integral to my process. And yet, in witnessing firsthand the societal disparities of wealth, education and health while working in the field of mental-health care and living in urban areas, I have developed a heightened awareness of how one can never know what is informing an other’s way of perceiving and being in the world. As a consequence, I have developed a strengthening hesitation to attempt to tell others' stories. Instead I take note at how others’ perspectives have helped to evolve my own story, and that is the story I tell.
Being aware of ways-of-being that appear far from my own is integral to my process. And yet, in witnessing firsthand the societal disparities of wealth, education and health while working in the field of mental-health care and living in urban areas, I have developed a heightened awareness of how one can never know what is informing an other’s way of perceiving and being in the world. As a consequence, I have developed a strengthening hesitation to attempt to tell others' stories. Instead I take note at how others’ perspectives have helped to evolve my own story, and that is the story I tell.
