JANAE EASTON

Developing and supporting the contradictions in desire; beauty, friction, neediness, betrayal, loss, and love. I am interested in both chaos and order, discord and pleasure.

My work creates connections between objects and drawings, building a community of marks. Nature triggers the work; In the drawings and sculpture I am trying to create details that evoke the slow and rapid growth in nature. My process connects with the ambiguity of the organic world but is also inspired by surrealism, landscape painting, assemblage, storytelling, how to books, flower arranging, graffiti, flea markets art brut and the idea of slowness. The materials I choose arrive from the domestic and child craft. Many of the papers are wrapping paper, cards people have given me and my family, as well as old miscellaneous papers. The papers are sentimental at times but then are also completely new and foreign.

The materials are twisted into a new context that maintains a playfulness yet pushes boundaries. Many of these materials have connections to the body’s need for tenderness, comfort, and warmth.

Janae Easton (a.k.a. Platypus File) features a love for the handmade and especially that, which is related to nature. Janae handcrafts each item breathing whimsy into the details and curiosities that make each piece unique. Recently she has been focusing on fiber sculpture, which are playful huggable pieces of art that are for the home.

"I am an artist and lover of curiosities. I am a nester who compiles lovely things to inspire me and my family. I live in a yellow cottage in North florida with my husband, son, and three wild cats. I spend my days with my son, walks and quick escapes to a handmade place (when my boy sleeps)."

Janae received her B.F.A from Florida State University and went on to receive her M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

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