About/CONTACT
Contact/About
email: jannauary@gmail.com
(818) 398-9673
About
Welcome and thank you for visiting my site. My name is Anna Marie January.
I'm a mixed media artist, originally from Southern California, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I paint and sculpt. (See Artist Statement.)
Mostly self-taught, I have been creative all of my life, whether
Contact/About
email: jannauary@gmail.com
(818) 398-9673
About
Welcome and thank you for visiting my site. My name is Anna Marie January.
I'm a mixed media artist, originally from Southern California, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I paint and sculpt. (See Artist Statement.)
Mostly self-taught, I have been creative all of my life, whether I was drawing, painting, dancing, writing, designing interiors or making costumes.
In the mid to late 2000's I decided to take some interior design courses at my local community college. Along the way I discovered a passion for drawing and sculpting the figure (in clay) while studying with the incredibly talented California based artist and professor Cynthia Minet.
It was in one of her classes in 2010 that I began working with the wire. I was first inspired to pair a painting with a wire sculpture in 2014.
I have work in private collections across California, including in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Northridge, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Sacramento, Thousand Oaks, Woodland Hills, The Bay Area, Santa Barbara and San Diego.
A third generation Californian on my mother's side, I was born in East Los Angeles at The Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights. I spent much of my early childhood in the backseat of our car (without a seatbelt) as we traveled back and forth across the United States for my mother's work as an entertainer.
The Japanese Hospital, which was established in response to the discrimination immigrant and American born Japanese experienced in the early 20th century, had developed a reputation for providing excellent care and serving a diverse population.
My parents, who were an interracial couple at a time when it was illegal for them, as an African American man and a white woman of Swedish and German descent, to be married in several states due to anti-miscegenation laws, felt more welcome there.
A biracial "illegal" child,
born in the Japanese Hospital,
named after a Chinese woman from Shanghai who moved to San Francisco, often lovingly cared for by my Mexican American aunt, and then by
my Jewish foster family, while my children are half Greek!
These are some of the foundational threads that have created the tapestry of me.
As the French say "L’ennui naquit un jour de l’uniformité." Boredom was born, one day, out of uniformity.
People often remark that I've led a very unconventional life at times. It's true that I DO have some stories to tell...
Most importantly, I am a mother to my two beloved children. One walks the earth, amazing me with her strength, courage, wisdom and beauty every single day. The other is in spirit. He is dearly loved and missed, and most certainly watching over us.
~Anna Marie January
Artist Statement
I'm a painter and a sculptor. I apply acrylics and various mixed media to canvas. Is my painting style Primitivist? Abstract? Surreal?
It's just mine... Out of my dream states, my waking states, mysterious messages from my soul. I am learning, slowly, to get out of the way.
For my sculptures, I work with hexagonal wire me
Artist Statement
I'm a painter and a sculptor. I apply acrylics and various mixed media to canvas. Is my painting style Primitivist? Abstract? Surreal?
It's just mine... Out of my dream states, my waking states, mysterious messages from my soul. I am learning, slowly, to get out of the way.
For my sculptures, I work with hexagonal wire mesh (aka common, some might say "ugly" chicken wire) to create (mostly) life size figurative sculptures. The inherent qualities of the wire enable me to make lightweight sculptures that are both form and space--there and not there. Whether stand-alone pieces, or mixed media works, my figures allow air and light to move through and play with them. I've learned that interesting things can happen in the spaces between.
At times I pair my sculptures and paintings.
I believe that creative work done with intention and awareness of frequency is important work, especially in these times, and is impactful far beyond our personal spheres in ways we may not fully understand.
My hope is that my artwork, and the loving and joyful energy with which it was created, will bring you a smile, some inspiration, contemplation, or some peace.
In gratitude,
-Anna Marie January
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Exhibition History
2020 realART , Group Exhibition curated by Sylvia White, 28873 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, CA
2017 Seeing Blue, Gallery25N, Virtual Online Group Exhibition
2016 Light Play, Group Exhibition, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA
2015 Buenaventura Art Association's 29th Annual Open Competition, Juried Exhibit
Exhibition History
2020 realART , Group Exhibition curated by Sylvia White, 28873 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, CA
2017 Seeing Blue, Gallery25N, Virtual Online Group Exhibition
2016 Light Play, Group Exhibition, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA
2015 Buenaventura Art Association's 29th Annual Open Competition, Juried Exhibition, Juror Linda Kemp, Buenaventura Gallery, Ventura, CA
2015 My Sunset Woman Plays Guitar, Temporary Public Art, Malibu Guitar Festival, Malibu, CA
2014 Clothing Optional, Juried Exhibition, Juror David Elder, Second Place and People's Choice Winner, Studio Channel Islands Art Center Blackboard Gallery, Camarillo, CA
2014 Planet, curated by Cynthia Minet, Group Exhibition, Moorpark College Art Gallery, Moorpark, CA
2014 Anna Marie January: The Spaces
Between, Solo Exhibition, Pink Flamingo Gallery, Moorpark College, Moorpark, CA
2014 Ventura County Government Center Show, Group Show, Administration Building, Fourth Floor, Ventura, CA
2013 The Bride: For Edith, Temporary Public Art, Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA
2013 Buenaventura Art Association's 27th Annual Open Competition, Juried Exhibition, juror Katrina McElroy, Buenaventura Gallery, Ventura, CA
2012 Group Exhibition, Moorpark College Art Gallery, Moorpark, CA
2012 Group Exhibition, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA