Janet is a multi-media Whitehorse artist, curator and visual storyteller who became a full-time artist in the ‘third chapter’ of her life, after nearly four decades as a journalist and communications professional. You can find her artist portfolio here, but below is a brief summary.
She is best known for creating sculptural pieces with reclaimed, natural, and found objects. Discarded materials find unexpected uses through her art; they are reassembled and cojoined with other unlikely components to create new life and new meaning. Her work is quirky, often humorous but with dark overtones, and always narrative.
The materials in her pieces reflect a world that is in peril because of human actions. Using them in her work is a small act of resistance against what she sees as senseless overproduction and overconsumption.
Janet has had numerous solo and group shows in the Yukon and Alaska and has curated shows at the Yukon Arts Centre, Yukon Artists at Work and at other Whitehorse locations.
In a past life, Janet obtained her ARCT in Piano Performance through the Royal Conservatory of Music and she taught piano for many years.
Janet has had the opportunity to do several juried visual artist residencies, including an Arctic Circle two week residency aboard a tall ship in the Svalbard Archipelago (Norway) and a month-long residency at the historic Jenni House in Whitehorse. She was subsequently hired as the program’s coordinator.
Her work can be found in private collections across Canada and internationally.
Contact Janet:
Instagram: janet_patterson_artist_page
Email: janet@northwestel.net
Read more about Janet here.
Photo credits: images 1 and 2 – Janet Patterson; image 3 – Erik Pinkerton.
