Janet Biagioni

Phychology often creates the ideas for my images.Painting and printmaking are used to express those ideas.Last year I began using collage in conjunction with painting and it is now a prominent feature in my work.In some cases, I use printmaking to supplement my painting and to show a different way to express the same ideas.

My work involves art that probes the idea of identity, memory and existence.I start with a personal photograph that has a familiarity to it.I then apply layers of paint or other media to obtain a certain amount of abstraction that causes it to transcend antional and cultural boundaries.I try to make art that both reflects my roots and evokes a sense of time and memory as other artists have done.

The works of Christian Boltanski, Michal Rovner and Marianne Gartner have influenced my work.All three artists use photographs as the central images of their work.Boltanski uses photographs that conjure up memories within us about loss and death.

Rovner's obscured photographs probe the boundaries between different levels of reality such as presence and absence, ambiguity and fact.Finally, Gartner uses traditional photographic portraits and with paint and canvas subverts them into her own commentary.Similar to Boltanski, Rovner and Gartner I use photographs as the basis for my painting.The images are selected because of their familiarity and are used in relation to my interest in psychology.My use of photographs allows the viewer to reminisce about individuals or of whole groups of people that they may not know but can relate to personally.

In addition to my painting my work in printmaking has been based on psychology but also explores drawing as an expressive activity much like that of handwriting.I am influenced by Frank Auerbach whose work is highly expressive and individualistic.My work asks the viewer to challenge the subject matter and find a persistent haunting quality that comes from the imagery.If it is a portrait this quality is usually found in the subject's postures or eyes and summons up a memory to evoke a certain response or emotion.

I try to make works that involve an awareness of those facets of values that cannot be measured by objective standards and to help develop a sense of what we find important.To find a way to interpret human psychological experience through shared political, economic, social, hoistorical and religous ideas within cultures.If the viewer does not directly identify with the pyschological aspect of the work the images are strong enough to show how time and memory relate to the transient nature of life.

Untitled (Moonscape)3 x 3 in.  Etching and chine collé   Sold

Untitled - Male Nude9.8 x 9.8 cm  Etching  

Untitled - Resting Male Nude9.8 x 9.8 cm  Etching  

Untitled - Window60.6 x 35.7 cm  Etching  

Please email the gallery to view more works by Janet Biagioni .

Selected Education
2004   Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB



Selected Collections
Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, AB
Red Deer College, Red Deer, AB



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