Janet Dake - Human Nature

About

Born and raised in Kentucky, Janet Dake brings to her work the lived experience of being a “misfit” growing up in the southern United States. Her work is rooted in an autobiographical understanding of the world: womanhood, feminism, queerness and isolation. Simultaneously, she captures broader socio-political currents. With deep love and affection for her home, Dake wrestles with it’s pronounced problems. Having studied both Art and Political Science in college, she transcends the feverish politics of the U.S. into her work; sometimes with subtlety, sometimes quite overtly. Most of these pieces are a reflection of 2020 and beyond, with the Covid-19 crisis and the extreme political tensions of the U.S. presidential election serving as their backdrop.

Each painting’s alluring figures and intricate backgrounds carries a narrative. These stories are meant to boldly and beautifully reflect contemporary issues that encompass gender expression, climate change and the fragility of Western socio-political structures. Though superficially beautiful, the content of Dake’s paintings can be unsettling as they
teeter on the edge of visual pleasure.

Dake is inspired by the humanity, eccentricity, and storytelling in the work of Frida Kahlo, Kehinde Wiley, Alice Neel, Amy Sherad and Kent Monkman.