Jane Kang Lawrence
Jane Kang Lawrence received her BFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Following painting residencies in Italy she continued to dovetail art making with teaching by pursuing her Masters from the School of Visual Arts. Jane has taught visual arts, ceramics, and visual literacy for students in NYC for 17 years. She is a Pulitzer Center teaching fellow of the 2021-2022 cohort. Jane is a Founding Director of Peep Space and maintains a painting studio in New York City.
Lawrence recently curated a show for the I Like Your Work Podcast Summer Catalog titled “At The Party.” Lawrence says in her curator statement “At the Party there are works with sweeping qualities of precision, meditative beauty, humor and flirtation.”
Breakfast, 2021, 10x10 in, oil on panel
Lemon Eve 2022 10x10 in oil on panel
PP: Where are you currently living/ working and what are you working on?
JL: Currently I live in Sleepy Hollow, NY and am an art teacher in NYC. I split my studio painting practice in NYC and in Tarrytown where I have a studio behind the gallery at Peep Space. My friend and I opened the gallery in Tarrytown in 2020, as a way to provide contemporary artists an opportunity to exhibit their work in the Lower Hudson Valley.
Bow Out 2021 6x4 in Monotype
PP: Who or what has had the biggest most recent influence on your creative practice?
JL: Last month I wrapped up curating the summer exhibition, At the Party, for I Like Your Work Podcast. I give all my thanks to Erika Hess. What an honor to curate the work of hundreds of talented artists from across the globe. I enjoy introducing artists to one another, and in the spirit of Erika, love to share art work to others. As an artist it is uplifting to know that your work is supported. Curating creates a present dialogue with viewers, and highlights artists' distinct integrity of creating. Curating on this large scale is inspiring in my own studio practice. It motivates me to share my work without the self consciousness of who is viewing the work.
Eternal Youth 2021 8x85 in mixed media on paper
PP: What body or piece of work that you have made is most meaningful to you?
JL: The work I have created the past two years have been extremely meaningful to me. I have been exploring Korean folk art, minhwa. I've been examining and looking at the abstracted elements of the work and becoming more inspired. I am not analyzing the art of minhwa, but I am simply becoming more aware of the intimate moments of abstraction they possess. Making this work has been a departure from how I painted prior, which seemed more frustrating. I am in a different mindset now, and have been working more methodically and slowly. It shows me that shifts in life can not only impact the flow of my work but also inspire me to slow down my mark making.
PP: What role do you think artists have in society?
JL: One possible role artists have in society is to remind viewers to pause and be present. When we commune with the arts we honor the artists' curious nature. Simply, society could understand that some speak without words. Artists can remind you to take that moment to look and that you don't need to respond right away.
