https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded
About Janna: Canadian painter Janna Watson uses abstraction as both an escape from and return to the real. As the world we know dematerializes into paint strokes, so too does her paint take stage as its very own character in a multi-act drama of composition. Bundles of colour, made up of discrete yet inseparable instances of pigment—what Watson refers to as “moments”—are teeming and poised as though caught mid-multiplication. Sweeps of paint re-direct sharply and fold over themselves; thin, rigid ink lines cut into the pictorial field as rudimentary elements in an increasingly complex system of painterly language. All the components play out on a surface of slow, chromatic gradation. Like many of Watson’s players, these backdrops tenderly gesture toward the familiar, stopping just short of representation. The result is a conceptual project (and distinct, stylistic signature) that speaks to a contemporary milieu in which abstract painting is not the retreat of meaning into an unrecognizable realm, but rather the emergence of medium as a “figure” in its own self-inscribed world of feeling and being. Watson does more than reveal paint’s potential to emote—she gives it a space to reveal itself, in its own time.
Janna Watson holds an honours degree in Drawing and Painting from the Ontario College of Art and Design, and since graduating has exhibited extensively across Canada and internationally in over thirty solo exhibitions. Her work has appeared in notable public collections including those of TD Bank, CIBC, Telus, the Ritz-Carlton, ONi ONE, the Soho Metropolitan Hotel, and Saks Fifth Avenue. In 2013, she was commissioned to create an impressive, 11-foot painting for the lobby of AURA, Canada’s tallest residential building.
Watson’s paintings circulate regularly at international fairs, including Art Toronto, CONTEXT Art Miami, and in Seattle, where they were recently featured by Artsy in its list of “10 Works to Collect at the Seattle Art Fair.” Watson’s work has been covered by publications such as The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, NOW Magazine, and House & Home.
Janna Watson also runs Studio Watson, a business dedicated to redefining interiors with hand-tufted floor pieces inspired by the artist’s abstract compositions.
She lives and works in Toronto.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Janna’s experience as a youth growing up in a small town in northern Ontario with her father being a Pentecostal pastor.
- “Living in somewhat of a bubble… “naive atmosphere” as a child.” She was an introvert and spent her growing life in the church, which Janna says added to the naïve atmosphere.
- Janna reflects about her experiences coming out at the age of 18, her process of beginning to question the very faith she grew up believing, and how the world might be moving around her.
- Janna explains how she came to a particular point of surrender in the wrestling of her faith and personal life. – Critical point within her story; being a major catalyst for who she is today.
- Janna realized later on in her life how much she needed to “touch into” the spiritual world and tap into surrender.
- The process of covering all of her paintings with resin during a rough period in her life. “Shiny and sexy – glossing over the flaws.”
- Janna explains speaking in tongues and how she personally uses it within her prayer life and her thoughts on how speaking in this manner somehow transports her to her subconscious state of mind to be able to translate those feelings in her artwork.
- Janna’s grandfather pushing her to draw the “essence of things” in her drawings and how they needed to be wilder. He taught her the art of abstraction.
- Janna reflects on the title of her show speaking to the way we are currently living our lives as the coronavirus is occurring.
https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded
About David: David Cheifetz is an internationally acclaimed and collected artist who continues to push the limits of contemporary realist oil painting. David and his family live in Olympia, WA.
"Reflecting the language of dreams, these dark, hyperrealistic tableaux suggest bizarre and intriguing narratives. Cheifetz paints alla prima, an oil painting technique in which wet paint is applied to previous layers of wet paint. He works without detailed underpainting or studies, creating atmosphere through prominent, expressive brushstrokes and strong chiaroscuro."
-Artsy.net
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- David’s time in quarantine, and reflecting during this time
- David’s workshop cancelation in Italy due to COVID-19
- Feeling out-of-the-game, but only in perception
- His family life, and time with his children
- Painting and the inspiration that goes behind it.
- Allowing himself to find meaning in a painting after it is finished
- The dynamic of Cheifetz’s painting vs. writing practice
- Experiences of having children and David’s reflection on approaching his own personal life with an element of forgiveness.
https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded
About Erin: Erin Nicole Henry is a contemporary artist based in Atlanta, Georgia, where she began working in the arts at an early age. After leaving art school, her cutting edge paintings made a loud arrival into the art world since they began regularly showing in multiple galleries around the city.
Erin examines her environment through surrealist portraits of the human figure. Her work is intentional, with confident brushstrokes, rich layers of color, and details that pull you in. Her unique style and curious subject matter have captured the attention of art lovers and collectors across the globe. Working from her studio in Atlanta, Erin has chosen to use her growing platform as an artist and a working model to spark conversation and bring awareness to issues surrounding LGBTQ equality, sexual harassment, and abuse.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Differences in her work as a painter in contrast to her work as a mode
- Her love for horror films
- The superficiality that exists in the fashion world
- Consumerism
- Healthy understandings of body image
- Being nomadic
- Finding purpose
- Museums: The Broad
- Artists: Matthew Barney, Jenny Saville
- Films: Midsommar (Ari Aster
- Authors: Nancy Farmer, Lidia Yuknavitch, and David Foster Wallace
https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded
About Aja: “As a psychic and medium, I find meditation to be a mandatory part of my private practice. Meditation is a foundational piece of my ability to connect to the other side, and to refresh my energy.
This meditation is part of an ongoing project that my partner and I are working on entitled, “Tides”. Each meditation is channeled through my automatic writing practice, allowing the spirits I work with to directly connect each listener with themes and imagery they believe can activate change, healing, and release. The listener is encouraged to allow themselves to be guided through this third eye journey without expectation to experience whatever comes through. Whether or not you receive messages or guidance from your spiritual teams or your subconscious - it all matters. Do your best to surrender to whatever your mind wishes to share with you.
Enjoy the meditation.” - Aja Daashuur
www.artistdecoded.com
www.thespiritguidecoach.com
https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded
About Young Pueblo: The inward movement can be summarized as follows: we observe ourselves, we accept what we find without judgment, we let it go, and the actual release causes our transformation. We are already always changing, but when we focus on healing we can change in the direction of our choosing; these are moments when we intentionally reclaim our power. Every moment we take to know ourselves, we return as someone new.- Yung Pueblo
Diego Perez is a meditator, writer, and speaker who is widely known on Instagram and various social media networks through his pen name Yung Pueblo. Online he reaches hundreds of thousands of people every month through his written works that focus on the reality of self-healing, the movement from self-love to unconditional love, and the wisdom that comes when we truly work on knowing ourselves. His first book, Inward, was self-published and quickly became a bestseller on Amazon. A revised and expanded edition of Inward has recently been published and is now available in bookstores around the world.
The name Yung Pueblo means young people; it serves to remind him of his Ecuadorian roots, his experiences in activism, and that the collective of humanity is in the midst of important growth. Diego's practice of Vipassana meditation, as taught by S.N. Goenka, has given him a deeper understanding of liberation that inspires his writing. Through writing and speaking he aims to support the healing of the individual, knowing that when people release their personal burdens it helps humanity build a global peace.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- A discussion on Yung Pueblo's recent book, “Inward”
- How creativity has emerged from letting go in his meditation journey, and exploring healing through writing
- Attending meditation retreats and his practice of Vipassana
- The importance of practicing meditation even for individuals who haven't had major life traumas
- Selfless and unconditional love
- Self-love
A reflection on Yung Pueblo's addiction to pleasure and his awareness of how much it dictated his life - The idea of embracing change, and being present in the moment
- Overcoming an aversion to introspective reflection of himself, and becoming ok with being alone
- Finding balance amongst his writing practice, administrative work, and meditation
- Books: Bhagavad Gita