Jaanika Peerna

Maelstrom Series #78

2018

wax pencil on mylar 36 x 36 in

wax pencil on mylar 36 x 36 in

Wax pencil on mylar.

This piece is framed.

This piece is framed.

Jaanika Peerna is an Estonian-born artist living and working primarily in New York since 1998 as well as in Berlin and Tallinn. Her work encompasses drawing, video, installation and performance, often dealing with the theme of transitions in light, air, water and other natural phenomena. She is often involved in collaborative projects working with designers, dancers and musicians. She has exhibited her work extensively in the entire New York metropolitan area as well as in Berlin, Paris, Tallinn, Helsinki, Venice, Rome, Dubai, Sydney, and Moscow. Her work is in numerous private collections in the US and Europe and was recently acquired by Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris. Her work is represented in the United States by ARC Fine Art...

This dramatic work-on-paper is an abstract geometric painting that references colors, shapes, and aesthetics that artist Nancy Agati encountered in Italy. The rich, dark background i...

This painted work-on-paper is an abstract geometric design that references colors, shapes, and aesthetics that artist Nancy Agati encountered in Italy. The...

This painted work-on-paper is an abstract geometric design that references colors, shapes, and aesthetics that artist Nancy Agati encountered in Italy. The densely layered compositio...

This dramatic work-on-paper is an abstract geometric painting that references colors, shapes, and aesthetics that artist Nancy Agati encountered in Italy. The rich, dark background i...

This dramatic work-on-paper is an abstract geometric painting that references colors, shapes, and aesthetics that artist Nancy Agati encountered in Italy. The rich, dark background i...

The discipline of creating a drawing each day is a process, like a written diary, to clear the mind, to declutter thoughts, and to observe patterns. It is a method that allows the mind a freedom to wander and drift. A visual journal becomes a safe space for personal reflection–a self-awareness fueled by the opportunity for contemplation and immersion. The painted surface for the drawings was created by dividing five large paintings into 40 separate pieces. I chose five paintings from my Perspective Series (1993-94), which relied on day-to-day imagery that narrated a story about shifting time and how time anchors our day. The brush strokes of Perspectives are fluid, with muted colors – moving from deep blacks to taupe whites. Dividing these pieces was a means for me to rethink ideas and recurring images in my older work. The very thin gold leaf applied to each piece has a wonderful amber tone. This gold leaf is from Myanmar, where it is used as decoration for Buddha or for the dome of a temple or monastery. In the drawings, the gold element relates to the sense of infinity – like the sky in an enclosed courtyard. An architectural element is a critical component in my studio work that I wanted to carry over into these pieces. I envisioned a courtyard–a safe space that opens up to the sky. Unfolding circles define the beginnings of an open interior space. The process felt open-ended. It was an opportunity to get lost in thought and to give me an opportunity to reflect, muse and declutter my thinking. Then repeat. 40 days...