Monika Janus proposes a concept of sculptural painting formally minimal and simple. In her practice she fuses two-dimensional painting and three-dimensional sculpture. She explores properties of flat surfaces, extends the boundaries of their bi-dimensionality and examines how folding, bending or crushing can affect viewers’ perception of color and shape.

She employs a variety of media. She creates folds and voids often enhanced by additional paint or transparent acrylic finishes. She implements primary colors however willingly remains in a monochromatic environment to preserve the raw character of the used medium. She works on layers. By applying additional elements she amplifies the structural volume of her works and moves them towards sculpture.

Focused on simple folding techniques she transforms paper fans into complementary figures and treats them as a repetitive dynamic matrix.
Investigating the spectrum of their geometrical potential, she speaks of issues of scale and proportion. By simple use of folds she reshapes the image. She often works on grid-based repetitive sequences. Uniform repetition of elements at equal intervals compose predictable and understandable arrangement that evokes forms observed in nature.

Each work – if one follows Agnes Martin’s view – is the result of “developing awareness “. The process itself reshapes her conscious intentions and moves her towards the unknown. Completed artworks as much as failed attempts to do so are her main source of inspiration and simply ” tells the next thing to do “.

Monika Janus is a polish artist who currently lives and works in Milan. She graduated from The Institute of Design at the Polytechnic University of Koszalin and has continued her professional development within the field of design and visual arts.

White Artworks