ARTIST STATEMENT
Whether using fiber, paint, drawing, or printmaking, Jan Brandt’s artwork is an invitation for viewers to invest more time in their perusal of the composition.
A sense of movement is important. This is partly achieved by choosing expressive, organic linear work. The change in scale of similar shapes, especially circular, and repetition throughout the picture plane leads the eye throughout the composition.
Using color in context is clearly a preference of Brandt’s to elicit a sense of movement. The contrast between complementary colors activates the eye and makes the composition pop. Dynamic, high key color is arresting and commands attention.
Non-linearity, the fragmentation of both representational and abstract depictions, and the joyful use of color theory are the basis for Brandt’s work. Using these tools, the artist’s aim is to prolong viewing time, allowing for the potential for a fulfilling visual experience.
The palpable quality of Brandt’s work is informed by the multimedia artist’s longstanding practice with fibers. Texture is literal. Dots of craft puffy paint dry into applied pointillism. Crunchy glitter is used unapologetically for added contrast, texture and beauty. Less is not more in these maximalist creations.
Enveloping our senses, Brandt’s artwork is a visual translation of lush colors, fevered temperature, curious sounds, and heady fragrances based on memory. Per the artist’s design, one initially perceives each work or exhibition from a holistic point of reference, then begins an investigation into specific details by visually dissecting individual sections of Brandt’s bountiful and cleverly indulgent compositions.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
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, (with an award of Distinction in the Fine Arts by the faculty), both from Illinois State University in Normal, IL. She is the owner of Jan Brandt Gallery in Bloomington, IL, and has curated Visiting Artist Exhibitions since 2012. Brandt’s work has been shown in Miami, San Francisco and Davis, CA, Chicago and surrounding areas, New York City, Oberlin, OH, Indianapolis and Evansville, IN, Boston, MA, Champaign- Urbana, Decatur, Ottawa, and Springfield, Peoria, IL as well as in her local community of Bloomington-Normal, IL. Her work has been exhibited digitally in three Venice Biennials and also the Havana, Cuba Biennial through the Biennial Project of Atlantic Works Gallery, Boston, MA.
Brandt’s work has been selected for many print and online publications, including Create Magazine, Studio Visit, and Creative Quarterly. She was featured on the “I Like Your Work” podcast, YouTube, Instagram and website. She has been a guest on “Studio Break” twice. Her installation work was shown in The Illinois State Museum Galleries of Lockport and Springfield. In 2018, Brandt’s Happy Contagion was exhibited at The Boston Biennial V at Atlantic Works Gallery as The First Prize Winner in the Installation Category. Selected solo shows include Between Stillness and Growth at The CAMP Gallery, Miami, in 2025Hothouse at The Contemporary Art Center of Peoria in summer of 2021, Botanica Imaginaria January -February 2023 at Water Street Studios in Batavia, IL, and Magic Garden at Ottawa, IL’s Open Space Gallery in Fall of 2023. December 2023 through February 2024, Brandt’s work was curated into a two-person exhibition in the prestigious Sanctuary Gallery of the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, IL on the “Magnificent Mile”.
The artist has remained a vital part of her alma mater, and was selected as a Distinguished Alumni Recipient of The Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts during Homecoming 2023.
Brandt is represented by The CAMP Gallery, Miami, FL
© Jan Brandt