Untitled, 2017 by Janelle Borsberry
gypsum and sumi ink on canvas
15" x 15"
Artist Statement: I received my BFA from UT Austin and MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 2014. In 2017 I moved to Marfa to follow a desert muse and engage with other desert-musing artists. My art follows my curiosity in life and has many different subjects, including pure abstractions and landscapes. I intend that my art be a poetic experience for the viewer. Most often I find myself using oil or watercolor paint in my studio, but over the years a series of sand paintings has also emerged, always with a diagonal cross-section and simple contrast of different colors and tones. These pieces can have different orientations, and create peaceful horizons when arranged as diamond-shaped canvases, or when a square, a more dynamic left-to-right push and pull. To me, they represent interrelated dualities, like the absence and presence of dark and light. These states are complementary and perhaps different sides of the same coin. I chose this piece in relation to immigration because it represents unity and non-dual thinking and because it evokes our desert landscape.
Since I was a young person growing up in El Paso, immigration has always been in my heart. I believe deeply in supporting organizations that share the love of Christ as a reaching hand of justice to those crossing our borders to seek a better life.