Jana Ireijo Fine Art

My super new and improved ARTIST STATEMENT...

2011-01-19T22:36:00.000-08:00

First, a shout-out and thank you to all my followers (my mom, her brother Lloyd on the mainland, my mom's mail carrier, and her fellow Bikram classmates:)).

These paintings of dogs are self-portraits. They expose obsessive ruminations on identity, memory and desire.

The canines stare out from shallow fields of intense color. Fragmented images from magazines and comics both comfort and taunt them. Countless childhood hours were spent creating sticker and scrapbook albums - designing and composing story lines on the pages. Pop culture, with its diversions and bright, happy colors, was a welcome escape from an ever-changing home life.

I paint the dogs from photographs to reinforce the feeling of detachment. Images are continually added and subtracted, reconsidered and painted back - each new mark points the canvas in an entirely different direction. With it's constant reworking, a painting can take years to complete. The result is dense and layered, with secrets and narratives that lurk beneath the outer facade.

For inspiration, I look towards the artist Francis Bacon, whose work balances austere graphics with raw, emotional imagery. I also admire Amy Sillman's paintings, and her convergence of intuitive gestures with reasoned thought.

When the disparate images have been reconciled, I have created a world that is simultaneously buoyant and brutal. The subjects, colors and textures combine to reveal an agitated, dreamlike state. The mystery has been deepened, yet it is the journey, as well as the conclusion, that has been embraced."

Work in Progress: YOU+ME

2011-01-11T23:53:00.000-08:00

This is a large (4' x 7') painting I've been working on for the past several months. I started with the green cat head, and then found the female swimmers from an old Patrick Nagel book of prints. At first the swimmers were meant to be aggressively blocking off the cat's ears (a common theme in my work lately, me not really listening to what people are actually saying). The girl has rainbow spurts of blood pouring from her heart. But there are also images of balloons and happiness, so I guess it reflects my newfound optimism of love and relationships.

From Dusk 'til Drawn

2010-07-25T20:56:00.001-07:00

Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, "From Dusk 'til Drawn." Twenty-four hour drawing marathon!!! It was fun, like being in art school again - staying up all night in the studio, no sleep, looking for food, listening to everybody's music, and all the highs and lows of making art on a deadline. Here are three of the four drawings I made. It was a great event for probably the only contemporary arts space in SB. Well run, with a really great director (Miki Garcia) and staff.

t(HERE) Magazine, 1 Day of Art, Los Angeles '09

2010-02-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

This past fall, I was invited to participate in t(HERE) Magazine's 1 Day of Art, LA. They travel internationally, inviting local artists to create a work of art in 24 hours. We met on the roof of a building in downtown LA, chose a random topic (mine was "portrait!"), and were instructed to meet again 24 hours later. I found the whole process incredibly stressful and challenging...especially because it usually takes me a year to finish a painting. I holed up overnight in a Venice motel, and these are the results. Many, many, MANY times throughout the night, I thought about just quitting and driving home. We were also interviewed before and after - which I also found really stressful. I find it difficult - explaining my paintings and process. It was an eye-opening experience - so glad I did it!

Artslant Showcase Winner!

2010-02-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

These two works are Showcase Winners ("Confessions" - bottom and "LOVE ME" - top) November '09 and January '10) on Artslant!

"You Shook Me All Night Long"

2010-01-28T14:47:00.001-08:00

Latest work... inspired by an old family car, a song, and a recent obsession over the work of Patrick Nagel. 72x72" oil on canvas

Bobcat Country

2010-01-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

Last year, a Chicago poet (Brandi Homan) saw my painting, "LOVE ME," on Artslant. It became the cover of her recent book of poems, "Bobcat Country."

Nord Art 2009, Dusseldorf, Germany

2010-01-23T23:06:00.000-08:00

This work is entitled "Him." It's one of my favorite paintings (a girl on her knees while a guy has a party going on in his head). It was shown in Dusseldorf, Germany this past summer. I'm also on the poster for next year's show!