Jan Henry

Biography

I am a Victoria, BC resident who returned to Canada in 2004 after living in Saudi Arabia for 10 years.

I experimented with painting and papermaking while living in Saudi Arabia, but it was on my return to Canada in 2004 that my formal art education began.  

After several years of study, in May 2008 I received a Certificate of Visual Art from the Vancouver Island School of Art.

I continue to study at VISA.

 Selected Exhibitions

2011 The Gallery at Mattick's, Small Works

2011  AGGV Christmas Small Works

2011 Sidney Fine Arts Show

2011 Vancouver Arts Umbrella, SPLASH 2011

2011  SOPA Fine Arts - U8

2011  CACGV -LOOK Show

2011  Coast Collective Gallery, Salon des Refuses

2011  Deluge Contemporary Gallery, RPM: The Lost Art of LP Covers

2011  Crystal Pool Mural Project

2010  Sidney Fine Arts Show - winner, juror's choice award

2010  Sooke Fine Arts Show

2009 Sidney Fine Arts Show

2008 AGGV Moss Street Paint-In

2008  The Slide Room Gallery, Anatomy of Greys, group show

Other Projects 

2012 -  The "IBS Painting." A collaborative painting project with the Island Breaststrokers, to be auctioned on Feb 4th, to support the team's journey to the inaugural dragon boat festival in Israel in May 2012.

2010 - Fundraiser for the BC Cancer Foundation. A collaborative painting project involving myself and the women of the Island Breaststrokers dragon boat team. We produced a painting, "Still Bloomin", which was auctioned at the 2010 Victoria Dragon Boat Festival and raised $3000 for the BCCF. Cards produced from the painting continue to raise funds. 

We are now negotiating with the BC Cancer Agency to hang a similar painting there permanently.

Artist's Statement

I began my formal art education several years ago after experimenting with painting and papermaking for a number of years. Two color theory courses, which were an early part of this formal education, lead to a fascination with color relationships. I am intrigued with the manipulation of color relationships, and the interplay of colors within a given work.  

When looking for a motif with which to explore color, I frequently choose stripes or grids. There is often a grid or a pattern of stripes underlying my work, although these geometric patterns may not be visible in the finished work. Manipulation of these geometric shapes, while exploring color relationships, provides an ongoing source of inspiration for me.

A number of artists have been very influential, in particular Mark Rothko and Sean Scully. Sean Scully admonishes artists “to obsess” in order to fully explore the possibilities of painting, and this notion appeals to me very much.