Michael Janis: A Smart Balance of Personal and Public Art
On September 22, 2016, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities presented glass artist and Washington Glass School (WGS) Co-Director Michael Janis with the 31st Annual DC Mayor’s Arts Award. In a ceremony held at the historic Lincoln Theater, Janis was presented with the most prestigious honor conferred by the city on artists, teachers, nonprofit organizations, and patrons of the arts and humanities.
There’s no doubt Janis is having a red-letter year. His Mayor’s Art award came fresh on the heels of his inaugural solo exhibition at Maurine Littleton Gallery in Washington DC. Echoes of Leaves and Shadows featured 17 new glass works and sculptures by Janis, on view from September 16 – October 14, 2016 and subsequently at SOFA Chicago.
A translator of the subconscious, Janis creates intricate glass powder drawings that ask questions rather than answer them. The time-consuming process used to create his artwork inspires the artist to find new ways and means to depict the poetry, symbolism, and magic of the everyday. While the work has an intrinsic meaning to the artist, it remains open to multiple interpretations and hints at universal questions through a dreamlike surrealism.
Janis first began working with glass as an architect in Australia, where his projects received international awards. His architectural discipline is evident in his precise and detailed sgraffito drawing technique.
As Co-Director of WGS, Janis has also experienced great success in creating site-specific public art commissions. WGS, which just turned 15 years old this spring, has hosted 4000 students since its inception by glass artists Tim Tate and Erwin Timmers in 2001. Recently the studio created a 16-foot-high, internally illuminated glass and steel sculpture for Laurel Library, Laurel, Maryland.
The artist discusses his new series of work as well as his role as co director of the Washington Glass School.