September 6 through October 14
Jana Hanka – Wood Fired Clay
Reception September 29, 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Jansma Gallery at NCCA-Artsplace, 13 E. Main St., Fremont. 231-924-4022.
Jana earned her MFA from the Prague Academy of Fine Arts in 1980 and has been living in the USA since 1987. She has participated in several hundred shows in the intervening years – 60 of them as featured artist.
Jana began life as a painter and has slowly evolved into a sculptor, employing clay and bronze. Her currently displayed work is mostly ceramic sculpture.
“I have grown particularly fond of the rough and unpredictable earthy effects created by ash deposits and microclimates within the large fire-breathing dragon of a kiln we use for week-long Anagama Japanese-style wood-firings. It is a force unto itself, beautiful and primal and the work that comes from the kiln is a reflection of that ancient process,” states Jana. “I died falling from a horse and woke up in a hospital a month later – and suddenly nothing is as it seems – ever again. My life and artwork were changed completely. All bets were off and my life became that of a seeker after truth and visions of the numinous and intangible. That’s what my works ultimately represent – me becoming something deeper in relationship and developing alongside the other – the non-human. Man and horse – a relationship that is ancient, beautiful, dangerous and ultimately enlightening.”

During the artist reception on September 29, 6:00 p.m. Jana will perform a short piece of modern dance she has choreographed to collaborate with the exhibit called Seven Days.  It is about the dramatic process of that happens during the firing of the kiln.

Learn more about Jana here!