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Artist Exhibitions:
JANIS ADRIAN KIRSTEIN
___________________________
janiskir@bellsouth.net
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
ZEPHYR GALLERY. Louisville,
KY. June, 2008.
ZEPHYR GALLERY. Louisville,
KY. June, 2004.
JOHN HARRIMAN GALLERY,
PERUVIAN BRITISH CULTURAL
CENTER. Lima, Peru. August
2002.
ZEPHYR GALLERY. Louisville,
KY. June 2002.
ZEPHYR GALLERY. Louisville,
KY. 2000.
ANNE WRIGHT WILSON ART
GALLERY. Georgetown
College...
Further Information
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Artist Galleries:
Zephyr Gallery in Louisville,
KY. url for web site:
www.zephyrgallery.org...
Further Information
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Artist Reviews:
REVIEW: DIALOGUE MAGAZINE,
MARCH 1989
By Maggie Meloy
Night, as encountered by Jan
Kirstein, is a time that
inspires vision. It seems to
have opened the artist's eyes
to emotional and visual vistas
which she explores in 24 new
paintings and drawings that
make up the exhibit,"In the
...
Further Information
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Collections:
Coming Soon!
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Statement for Janis Kirstein
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ARTIST STATEMENT BY JANIS KIRSTEIN
2008: My most recent body of works reflect the ongoing struggle and challenge of survival in the 21st century as a United States citizen and resident.
2006: This body of artwork concerns the conflict faced by both Japanese and American society by the cultural pressures of the individual to conform or not conform to society's rules and structure. Societal expectations and pressures affect us all and a balance between society's structure and the individual's independence remains an ongoing search.
As a high school teacher of art in the American Public School System, I see many examples of students struggling with these same issues of society versus the individual. I have chosen a few of my students who do not fit into the “mainstream” of our public education system, and asked each one of them to collaborate with me in creating paintings that reflect their struggles to remain an individual in our ever increasingly regimented structure of the high school day.
Japanese students struggle with the same pressures as American students, if not more of conforming to the rules of the system at the expense of the individual becoming invisible. With my collaborative students, I asked each one of them to help me create a collage conveying their life as a high school student as they face the imposition of today's demands and expectations of today's American public school system.
We made the collages together. I then placed these collages in a traditional Japanese scroll format, with a Japanese character connecting with the basic concept of each collage. I created the calligraphy for each piece with traditional Japanese techniques and materials and used traditional proportions of the Japanese scroll to hold each non-traditional, innovative burst of energy emerging from the central collages.
The diametrically opposed formats of the traditional structure of the Japanese scroll with its calligraphy, based on the traditions of many centuries, combines with the new and innovative collages to form wholeness both unique and traditional.
Examples of the students I collaborated with include:
The first scroll, “Formal,” includes the work and photo of Aaron Lawence, now a college freshman. He possesses uncommon gifts of intelligence, and creativity and insight far beyond his years. Yet in my regular art class, he never seemed to fully engage himself in the day-to-day regimen required of high school activities. Then he asked me to instruct him in an “independent study format.” When he was given an opportunity to move beyond the traditional regimen of the high school learning system, he became passionately involved in black and white photography and in clay sculpture. His production and learning soared. His sculpture of a torso is included in this scroll.
The construction of the scroll “Informal” was carefully overseen by a child who is receiving special resources in our school system to enable him reach learning goals such as how to count change when paying for items in the store, and how to communicate verbally with others. His gifts in art far surpass the level he has been able to achieve in other subject areas. As we made our collage together, he very accurately advised me concerning color choices and where to apply these colors to achieve balance and unity. We even incorporated a flying paper airplane and spit wads that shot through the classroom at the time as the class we were in contained of a number of highly insurgent students.
“Windswept,” includes the artwork of one of my graduating Senior high school art students, Carolyn Kearney. I have worked with Carolyn during her four years in high school and we felt an immediate bond upon our first meeting because we both survived and overcame injuries from very serious car accidents. I have attached her written account of the accident she suffered at age seven, below.
Because of Carolyn's resulting Traumatic Brain Injury she sustained from her accident, she received special help from our public school system in the U.S., required by our country's federal regulations to provide resources necessary to facilitate the learning processes of special needs students. Many specialists, teachers, counselors, and other school staff worked very hard with the continuous help from her parents, both within and beyond the confines of school regulations to help Carolyn reach for her dream of becoming a great writer.
In many ways, school accommodated Carolyn's needs. She assured me, however, that even though she realized the staff had her best interests at heart, she still felt a strong pressure to conform to school rules and the expectations of those in authority.
From the time of her car accident, she began the slow recovery process, first relying on a wheelchair for mobility, then graduating to a walker, then to a quad cane, then to a single cane, and finally, to walking independently of any external support.
As you can see by her brief personal narrative, she writes very well and her art work in the scroll pictures herself writing at her computer. Above her image of herself the night sky rises up between her two walking canes. Though the canes stand beside her, they are moving apart at the top, to allow a new world of freedom to enter her life. The quotes appearing in her art work include her own: “My writing will change the world.” Her other quote is from Helen Keller, her main inspiration. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.”
Carolyn's determination to overcome her limitations of her circumstances provides much of the impetus and necessity she feels to reach the world with her single most important message: “Never Give Up.”
Within the design of the scroll I chose the image of bamboo to surround her figure, as bamboo embodies the lessons of strength through flexibility and tenacity. These qualities are what enable the bamboo to survive the sweeping winds of life, just as Carolyn and I were determined to survive our own personal traumas.
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