KELLI JANSON
RESIDENT
In 2015, I attended an artist residency at Arts, Letters & Numbers, in Averill Park, New York. Myself, along with nine other artists from Russia, Iceland, Australia, England, and the United States, produced a group show called “CASSIOPEIA (CONSTELLATION)”, involving paintings, sculptures, spoken word, and performance art around the concept of a group or cluster of related objects or qualities.
For the group show, I completed the paintings below - Story I / Story II. Each painting shows a constellation involved in the Greek myhological story of Casseopia - Cepheus in Story I and Andromeda in Story II - combined with images of the physical spaces where the artists connected during the residency -“The House” in Story I, and “The Mill” in Story II.
After my residency, and in preparation for my upcoming 2016 solo art show, I decided to focus on conveying the duality between the human need to find connection and form groups through beliefs, cultures and geography, while calling attention to the scientific fact that we are already physically connected at a cellular level.
The paintings below are from my solo show, RESIDENT. The Église Sainte-Marie Catholic Church in Church Point, NS, the clock overlooking the former CFB Cornwallis, in Cornwallis Park, NS and a Victorian home, featuring a widow’s walk, commonly found in the area, where it is told that fishermen’s wives in coastal communities would watch for their husbands to return from the sea - painted along side of constellations whose astrological traits are reflective of the communities created.
Watching Over You
(Taurus Constellation / Clock Tower at former
CFB Cornwallis in Cornwallis Park, NS:
Strength. Perserverence)
16" x 40" x 1.5" / Acrylic on Canvas
SOLD - Private Collection:
Digby, NS
Through the Gate at 9
(Constellation Sagittarius / Our Neighbours home:
Friendly, Respectful. Adventurous)
20" x 20" x 1.5" / Acrylic on canvas
SOLD - Private Collection:
Digby, NS
Through the Gate at 5
(Constellation Gemini
Our home in Digby)
20" x 20" x 1.5" / Acrylic on canvas
SOLD - Private Collection:
Plympton, NS
Determined
(Constellation Aries/ Digby Pines Resort
Resourceful. Determined to succeed)
36" x 36" x 1.5" / Acrylic on canvas
SOLD - Private Collection:
Halifax, NS
It Takes a Village
(Charming. Creative. Reliable)
48" x 30" x 1.5" / Acrylic on canvas
SOLD - Private Collection:
Halifax, NS