TAWA at 45
The Exhibition
Janis Purcell
Dream Dancer
concrete, copper sheeting, tulle, paint, 2007; 30″h x 11″w x 7″d
Janis Purcell received her BFA and MFA from Brooklyn College. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Trenton Museum Society. She had a two-person show, Grand/Purcell, the Spectacular Sculpture of Janis Purcell, at the Trenton City Museum, Ellarslie, Trenton, NJ. Her selected group shows include Trustees Collecting, the Trenton City Museum; Ellarslie Open 39, President’s Award, Runner Up, Fiber Art; participated in several online events; video for the Trenton City Museum on the Craft of Felting; Mercer County Senior Art Exhibition, Honorable Mention, Craft Professional; 42nd Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Monmouth Museum; Mercer County Artists Exhibition, Juror’s Choice Award; 53rd Annual NJ State Senior Art Show, Honorable Mention, Craft Professional; Mercer County Senior Art Show, First Place, Craft Professional; Mercer County Artists, Mercer County Community College; Awarded Recognition of Excellence from the West Windsor Arts Council; Pushing 40, invitational, Trenton City Museum; Mercer County Senior Art Show, Honorable Mention, Mixed Media Professional; Ellarslie Open 34, The Trenton City Museum, Runner up in Fiber Arts; Mercer County Senior Art Show, Best in Show and First Place Mixed Media Professional; Mercer County Artists, Mercer County Community College, Blick Best in Show; Mercer County Senior Art Show, Second Place, Mixed Media Professional; Mercer County Artists, Mercer County Community College, Juror’s Award, selected by Kyle Stevenson; Mercer County Senior Art Show, Honorable Mention, Crafts Professional. Publications include Ellarslie Open XXVI; “Small Rays of Hope and Fragments of a Larger Idea” calendar, Rhonda Schaller Studios, NYC; “Dangerous Women Two,” Mercer County Community College; and “Landscape of Sculptors Dreams,” The Times of Trenton, by Janet Purcell.
“I was brought up in Brooklyn, NY, and my childhood was filled with a rich blend of family drama, Catholic ritual, urban excess, generational freedom of the 1970s, and a colorful stream of fabric, buttons, trim, and lace. My fascination with materials of all kinds stems from my immigrant Italian family of tailors and garment designers. Years later I was able to give shape and direction to my internal impulses by earning a BFA and MFA in fine arts. My art is about process, material, and ideas. Over the years I have empowered myself with the ability to translate my ideas into the materials best suited for that piece. I rarely do anything spontaneously. Most of my ideas are labored over, worked, and reworked in my head before I start anything. All my work in connected to some story or event that has affected me. I continue to create a fantasy world with large imposing guardians, heroes, goddesses, colorful flowers, and symbolic landscapes. Many thanks to TAWA for inviting me to exhibit in this show. Being considered part of Trenton’s art community is more than I could have ever imagined.”