Vibrating lines astray, oblivious color clouds, drained, honest awareness. In an almost childlike manner Toronto based artist Janna Watson succeeds in suspending the weight of color into floating scenes of an inbetween. Her forms seem like somewhat indecisve figures hovering in non-space. Yet, the longer one looks, the more determined they seem to push in all directions at once, and act as a reflection on our relationship with nature and one another.
Her forms remind of creatures of the night that wait for shade where they could regroup, understand themselves, come to an agreement. As she seeks to let the lines have their own mind and let go of them, they look starled, waiting for instructions.
At the same time her work “creates a dialogue between the body and material, of that which is seen and unseen. Space can be differentiated between the aggressive and the ethereal, both equally supported by the elements of the subject and the palette”, designer Nico Soule observes.
Together, Watson and Soule produce vivid rugs which escape traditional connotations of either handicraft or fine arts tapestry. Watson seeks to show what it means to “take pleasure in half knowing”, as she likes to quote the poet John Keats.
