π©πππππππ π°πππππππππ by Jan Brandt
Bio: Jan Brandt is an artist working in mixed-media, textiles, printmaking, and painting. She holds a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Fine Arts, both from Illinois State University in Normal, IL. Brandt is the owner of Jan Brandt Gallery in Normal, IL. Brandtβs work has been shown across the country, including New York City, San Francisco and Davis, CA, Chicago and surrounding communities, Indianapolis and Evansville, IN, Oberlin, OH, Boston, MA, as well as the Central Illinois communities of Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, Springfield, and Bloomington- Normal.
Artist Statement: The fiber installations and paintings of Botanica Imaginaria have grown from artist Jan Brandtβs lifelong fascination with plant life. Brandt βs aim is to transform the gallery space with saturated colors and contrasting textures with the use of abstracted interpretations of botanical themes. She forms petals, vines, and leaves, oftentimes using thrifted and gifted materials. The abundantly bountiful sculptures and vines allow for a sense of surreal, childlike curiosity and wonder.
Paintings of various sizes serve as specimens within this ecosystem, inviting closer observation. Their surfaces, marked with dimensional fabric paint, matte chalk paint, and glitter, reveal depth and form composed of layered linework. The adjacent colors are made to be mixed in the viewerβs eye, echoing the textural and colorful components of plant life. To develop this layered visual vocabulary, Brandt has drawn on a diverse history of floral motifs, including the carefully observed details in 18th century botanical drawings, the patterning of Jacobean tapestries, and the flat abstraction of Swedish and Japanese floral design.