Jana Charl

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

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My creative process involves exploring a variety of media
and techniques that test the boundaries of what defines
contemporary art, including the blurring of the traditional
lines dividing craft, commercial art, and fine art. My
practice involves experimentation, refining and combining,
and adding to my repertoire. I thrive on challenges
and eliminating any limitations that threaten to confine
my creative expression. As a passionate storyteller,
my inspiration relies on the raw materials, experiences,
and everyday observations that I collect.

Seeking to draw attention to sustainability and conservation
issues, I reimagine overlooked and discarded items destined
for landfills. Viewing objects from an aesthetic and narrative
point-of-view, rather than solely for an intended functional
purpose, I appropriate inherent meanings and rework them
for entirely new interpretations. Sourcing these supplies
often involves others and nurtures an environment of
story-sharing with nostalgia and humor.

In order to circumvent language barriers and focus on the
visual experience, I have created a language of graphic bars
to represent words and punctuation. Viewers are able to
fill-in-the-blanks with their individualized interpretations
which interest me more than prescriptively spelling out
the meaning.

As a recurring motif to humanize abstract matters, I stylize
the female form in a minimalist way, choosing universal
features to promote a sense of accessibility and relatability.
Valuing diversity and inclusion, I address current topics,
especially feminism, and more recently the natural world,
with an intention to question standards and bring awareness
to preconceptions.