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. Using ‘experienced’ materials and objects, Janet explores and tries to understand how it is that humans have become the most invasive species on the planet, and what that could mean for our future survival.
Janet has had four solo shows since 2020 and has had pieces in more than 20 group shows in the Yukon and Alaska. In 2022, she was the recipient of an RBC Emerging Curators Award that allowed her to receive training and mentorship from the curatorial professionals at the Yukon Arts Centre. Under their guidance, she curated four shows in their community gallery. After completing the program, she co-curated a major exhibition in the Yukon Art Centre’s main gallery that celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Yukon Artists at Work organization, a show that included work by more than 80 artists.
In a past life, Janet obtained her ARCT in Piano Performance through the Royal Conservatory of Music and she taught piano for many years. These days she only plays for her own enjoyment.
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.
