Curator's Choice
Janine Etherington
Reconciling Perspectives #2, 2022
Mixed media wood assemblage, 7.5 x 7.5 x 7.5 in
-525
On display at the Downtown Eugene Public Library
Artist Statement
Perspective, relationship and trompe l’oeil drive my curiosity and my work. An ongoing interaction between an arrangement of wood elements and angles of light fuels a cycle of invention and reinvention. I use stain to augment the wood grain and let it come forward. As a result, the work feels like a collaboration with nature and gives me the opportunity to explore the patterns, rhythms and forms that the wood contains.
This process inspires a conversation around how the elements relate, what surprising connections might be made, and what assumptions might be challenged and upended–much like a conversation with a good friend can bring you to new philosophical territory and unexpected ideological destinations. We just don’t know what we’ll find until we get there and we’re compelled to keep moving forward: The uncertainty of the destination draws me in and entices me to keep looking.
For example, my piece ‘Reconciling Perspectives’, has a central wooden block with clear block ‘windows’ that reveal distinct perspectives of the same object. Each window affords a limited view of a single side of the interior block and its surroundings. Turning the piece reveals more windows and multiple facets of the interior block. The work is a metaphor for the way our vision and the vision of our cultural context are limited. However, taking a step back and encountering other perspectives can broaden our own and help us to recognize the common connections we share at the core.
Artist Bio
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Janine attended the Alberta College of Art in Calgary and the Emily Carr College of Art and Design (now Emily Carr University) in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she earned Honors in Painting and Printmaking. In 2016 she completed a three-month Art2Life intensive with Nicholas Wilton. Janine has continued her studies by attending workshops, including, The Language of Color, The Language of Design by Mark Eanes and Drawing Is Everything by Sara Post. Janine’s work spans a variety of media including painting (oil and acrylic and mixed media), printmaking and photography.
She has exhibited at galleries in Alberta, British Columbia, Oregon, California and around the New York metropolitan area. Her work can be found in private and public collections in the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK. She has been featured in Event: Journal of Contemporary Arts.
Janine now lives and paints in Eugene, Oregon.
For more information visit janineetherington.com
Curator's Choice Award
"Janine Etherington’s work has a ceremonial quality to it that evokes curiosity to explore the surfaces, patterns, edges and mark making. Each plane is meticulously painted and fit together, playing with light, color and transparency to create new surfaces and forms." - Curator, Chanin Santiago
