Since completing a conjoint BFA/BSc degree at the University of Canterbury in 2004, Janna van Hasselt has followed a number of opportunities to study abroad including a six month scholarship to study at the Rhode Island School of Art and Design, a residency in Belgium, an internship at the Edinburgh Printmakers Studio and most recently a residency at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, USA.

Van Hasselt pushes traditional boundaries of lithography and silkscreen processes by printing on unusual materials such as polycarbonate, wallpaper and domestic fabrics. Expressive gestural marks are combined with careful drawing to describe the artist’s own personal narratives. Her most recent pieces see heightened, almost hyper-real colour, organic forms and intricate layering of paint combined with silkscreen and lithographic print work on tactile fabrics such as velvets and felts.

phase in / fase uit reflects a transitional period in van Hasselt’s life: she explores the tumultuous emotions associated with travel, internships, her first real job and the desire for a place of her own. The resulting exhibition reads as a kind of autobiographical fabric swatch.

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