Janna Dorothy started experimenting with collage in early 2015. After many years drawing and painting in a meticulous photo-realistic style, the immediacy of collage felt liberating. Combining images of nature, the cosmos and humanity dovetailed nicely with the exploration of dreams, archetypes, philosophy, and current events.
Janna approaches collage as another form of painting. She works completely by hand with vintage pictures collected from thrifted books and magazines. Matching colors and textures in clippings helps create dreamlike yet believable new scenes. Remixing pictures of random far away places feels both like divination and interconnection.
Many indigenous cultures view the dream world as significant. According to activist Derrick Jensen, people who believe this often also see the Earth as a living being, an organism with consciousness and a soul. The West forgot or rejected this viewpoint long ago, which Jensen connects to the West pushing the planet towards ecological collapse. After all, if the Earth is inanimate matter, humans may as well continue exploiting it for profit. But if the world is an organism, alive and embodied with spirit, then humans are not separate from nature. If waking life is as much a dream as the ‘dream world’, then that means that lucidity in either place might help us on the path to wholeness.
Janna hopes her art can shine a light on interconnectedness, interdependence, beauty, and our collective responsibility for the Earth and every living thing.
Janna studied art at the Cleveland Institute of Art and finished her BA in Fine Arts at New Jersey City University in 2006. She is featured in the book Making the Cut: World's Best Collage Artists, Vol. 1 (Crookspress, 2017). Since the winter of 2017 she has been collaborating with Portland artist and astrologer Renee Sills of Embodied Astrology, to create collages for the full and new moons every month, which Renee features on her blog and podcast.
in addition to her collage art practice, Janna also practices calligraphy, mural art, drawing, painting and graphic design.
contact: janna.dorothy@gmail.com
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Publications
Curatorial Vol. 1: Leaders In Contemporary Art, Crookspress, 2019
Making The Cut: World's Best Collage Artists Vol. 1, Crookspress, 2017
Fairs
Portland Saturday Market - August 2019 - ongoing
Craftywonderland Art Market - Oregon Convention Center, 2017 - 2019
Renegade Craft Faire, Seattle 2018, Portland 2018
Urban Air Market - Portland, August 2015 & August 2016
Exhibitions
Elemental Economics, Group show of collaborations with Renee Sills, Matter, Portland, OR Dec 2017
Featured Artist, Frame Central, Beaverton, OR Dec 2017
Belonging - 17th Village Building Convergence Art Show, Emerson Street House , Portland, OR June 2017
All Wealth Comes From The Earth: Visual Affirmations, Matter, 811 E Burnside, Portland, OR May - June 2017
Wemake // Express Yourself: A Peaceful Protest, Tillamook Station, Portland, OR Nov 20, 2017
The 16th Village Building Convergence Group Art Show, The Refuge, Portland, Oregon June 2016
Northwest Collage Society Annual Juried Show, Seattle, Washington Jan 16 - Mar 26, 2016
Works on Paper Exhibition-Benefit, Cuchifrutos gallery/project space, 120 Essex St. NY, NY Mar 8 - 15, 2008
Tradition-Transition-Transcend, Perth Amboy Gallery, 211 Front St, Perth Amboy,NJ Feb - Apr 2008
Another Last Year, EXPLOSIVO/chashama, 169 Ave C, New York, NY Jan 11 - Feb 2 2008
Vernissage, Chashama, 217 East 42nd St, New York, NY Feb 17 2007
Under 21, Gallery 21, 611 McCarter Hwy, Newark, NJ Dec 2006 - Jan 2007
Apathy & Extremism, The Gallery, New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ, Sep - Nov 2006
Faces and Places, Justice William Brennan Courthouse, Jersey City, NJ, Apr - May 2005
Awards
Northwest Collage Society Winter Award, Sew, Annual Juried Show, Seattle, WA, 2016
Karen Meyers Zaccardi Award for Artistic Excellence, New Jersey City University, May 2005
Education
BA: Fine Arts: Drawing and Painting, magna cum laude, New Jersey City University, August 2006
Foundation Program, Cleveland Institute of Art, 1998 - 2000
Ramstein American High School, Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany, 1994-1998