Jana - Profile

I grew up in Prague, a city steeped in history and culture. In my childhood, my cultural influences came mostly from my parents, especially my father. Though he supported our family by working as a civil engineer, he was deeply interested in the arts, knowledgeable not only about classical music and art history, but especially about twentieth century painting. In his spare time he painted complicated compositions, influenced mainly by the artists of the thirties. His favorite painter was Frantisek Kupka. My brother and I spent hours with him walking around the historic parts of Prague, visiting galleries and museums, absorbing that unique mixture of images that Prague offered back then, almost devoid of tourists, but also free of commercialism.

I studied photography at the School of Graphic Arts in Prague, and later came to the United States, to study Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts. Graphic arts, printing and photography have been the mainstay of my artistic expression for many years. In the early 1990’s, I started taking classes in ceramics and sculpture at Hofstra University, and developed keen interest in this new medium. I progressed through the various techniques, from wheel throwing to hand building functional items, and finally concentrating on producing abstract sculptural pieces. The inspiration for these pieces comes from nature, with its endless variety of shapes, textures and hues, especially from the winter color palette of muted and subtle tones.

Generally using white clay as my medium, I complete the sculpture in several firings, first in an electric kiln to give the body strength, then in a pit firing, surrounded by sawdust, seaweed or various organic materials, sometimes employing stains and metalic glazes and re-firing the same piece more than once. The result is a work in harmony with nature, with subtle color hues, enhanced by the random effects of fire. I am currently working on series of Raku wall sculptures, with very basic black & white glazes, influenced by the simplicity of Japanese ceramic art.

I am a member of The Crazy Monkey Gallery Artist Co-op in Amagansett, where I exhibit regularly in group shows, and the East End Photographers Group. I am also a member of the Board of Directors of the Artists Alliance of East Hampton.

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Jana - Profile