Interview with artist Eloa Jane
Originally from Brazil, Eloa Jane Pereira immigrated to the US in 2005. In 2014 she moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she currently lives and works as an artist. Her reliefs and sculptures are emotional and colorful and evidence of her rendering skills and meticulous attention to detail she developed as a practicing architect. What makes her extraordinary creations extra special is that they are the products of the junk mail and waste paper we all must deal with. Eloa has exhibited her work internationally and is a recipient of a 2020 Artists 360 Grant from the Mid-America Arts Alliance. More of her works can be found at Art Ventures in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and at her website eloajane.com.
AAS: Eloa Jane, I understand you are originally from Brazil. What brought you to the US and Arkansas?
EJ: Before I immigrated to the US, I spent 15 years of my life in one of the best cities in Brazil. Curitiba is a cultural center, a model for the urban environment, and sustainable development. I could have lived there for many more years. But sometimes, life takes directions we cannot explain or even avoid. My marriage ended, one daughter went to Germany, the other to Texas, and only the youngest son stayed in Brazil. There is not a beautiful city in the world that could fill up the emptiness that followed. When I got a job offer in Massachusetts, I saw a chance for a new beginning. I accepted it and, in 2005, I came to the US with my three kids.
In 2008, I had the opportunity to have my first solo exhibition in the US, Paper Thoughts: The Revelation of Color. It was a decisive moment for my art career. When my job contract ended, I moved to Arlington, Virginia, to dedicate myself full time to art. But the cost of living in the DC area was too high, so Fayetteville, Arkansas, became an attractive option. In 2014 I packed everything dear to me in a little Toyota Yaris, mostly art and supplies, and drove for three days to Fayetteville. There are numerous art opportunities in Northwest Arkansas. Some friends, jokingly, say I will wind up in California for some more new beginnings. My answer was, “I might go there to set up a new exhibition, but I am growing roots in Arkansas."
AAS: Before we begin talking about specific pieces, though, talk about your work as an architect and how your concern for the environment has shaped your art and your choice of medium.
Eloa Jane at work in her studio.
EJ: Twenty-five years drawing 2-D projects to be constructed in 3-D definitely has helped me to envision sculptures and reliefs before making them. The knowledge of the structure, tensions, and material behavior applied to buildings also helped me to find solutions for stability and durability in a paper sculpture.
I got my degree in Architecture and Urban Planning in 1984. For more than 10 years, I worked for large construction firms designing skyscrapers, luxury residences, and houses of worship. Years later, I got my Master's degree in GIS- Geographic Information System- and shifted my interest to urban planning. I drew digitally some big cities in Brazil based on aero photography.
I could see in the images the lack of green spaces, land erosion, rivers piled with trash, large landfills, and the indiscriminate and greedy use of land. I wanted to do something about it. That job changed my approach to the environment and my lifestyle.
When I arrived in the US, with little money to buy art supplies, I was open to embracing a new way of creating art by re-using the piles of paper stuffed in my mailbox daily. I found fulfillment in creating meaningful things out of disposables. Using what appears to be an endless supply of trash, I can spread a bit of awareness while saving the earth's resources one person at a time.
AAS: A few weeks ago, I saw your work at the 34th Annual Small Works on Paper traveling exhibition, which was at UALR. It is such a great exhibition. Your wonderful piece, Reunion, was on the cover of the Small Works on Paper catalogue at UALR. Talk about that piece. Everything works together to convey so much deep emotion.
Reunion, recycled paper collage on paper, 24” x 18”
EJ: Reunion is part of a series first-named Pandemic Thoughts that I renamed Missing Parts, Displaced Feelings. The inspiration for Reunion came from the story of a father in jail who was allowed his son's visit. They had not seen each other for years. At first, they just stood apart in silence. Then, with no judgment, they overcome the oddity of the moment with an embrace. The dark environment of prison and/or the darkness of a pandemic were both represented by the dark background. It highlighted the colorful and so desirable bear hug. I created this piece during the pandemic in 2020 to remember a rare commodity of the period, a hug. I believe the conveyed emotion is in the eyes of the beholder, and that the majority of viewers might have missed a bear hug in 2020.
AAS: Another piece with that conveys deep emotion is Mother from your Missing Parts, Displaced Feelings series.
Mother, recycled paper relief on wood panel, 24” x 24”
EJ: During the pandemic period, the family nucleus became the most supportive contact allowed. In this new reality, a young mother of two, struggling to care for two kids, homeschooling, and remote working, found rest in a hammock with her baby. I took a shot of the moment to perpetuate it. This piece is a tribute to my daughter and her baby boy. She got Covid-19 in December 2020. Being away from her, making the artwork was a reminder of prayers and good thoughts. I wrote them under the layers while working. The relief is formed by ten layers of cardboard covered with paper rolls. They represent this multi-tasking woman. Her fading colors in the real world gave place to bold colors. The everyday troubles seem to go away like the tiles in the background perspective.
AAS: Kathy’s Clothesline you did a few years ago is such a charming piece. In it you used folded and rolled paper in different ways to create depth and movement. Would you talk about that piece and how it was done?
Kathy’s Clothesline, recycled paper relief on wood panel, 24” x 30”
EJ: Kathy’s Clothesline is one of twelve artworks in the awarded series Neighbor and Neighborhood. Kathy, an eighty-year-old lady, always hangs her clothes in the wind to dry even though she has a dryer at home. That evoked a beautiful memory from my childhood. When it started raining at my mother's house, my sister and I had to get the clothes outside. I remember the giggles of joy for being allowed to get soaked in the rain. I wanted the clothesline to be the center of attention in the artwork by using brighter colors and varied weaving patterns. The tree and the shack were rotated to compensate for the proportion of space they occupy in the composition. It was as if they were bowing down to the clothes. For the tree trunk and the leaves, I roll the magazine pages into tubes of varying widths. Then coil and glue them on the panel creating different levels of relief. The paper tubes are the core element of my work.
AAS: Two works that just blow me away are Waves of Music and Picasso the Pet Pig. These are just magical. Would you talk about those and how long they took to design and create?
Waves of Music, recycled paper relief on wood panel, 24” x 30”
EJ: They are both from the same series Neighbors and Neighborhood. I spent around 200 hours on each piece. The complete series with 12 pieces took one year from production to exhibition in 2019. Waves of Music depicts a jam session/ potluck that is frequent in the Beav-O-Rama Park community in Fayetteville. The picture I used as a model was graciously given to me by the hosts, Josh (playing bass) and Eloise (playing the violin). I added colorful waves around the musicians and attendees to highlight the connection no one could see in the picture. To the sound waves of music, there is no border, no color, no gender, no status quo. The waves pierce through our differences and connect us all.
Picasso, The Pet Pig, was a fun piece to work on. Picasso is the pet of my neighbors Tim and Marilyn. Obviously, my source of inspiration went back to Pablo Picasso’s art. From his painting The Dream, 1932, I got the sitting position, the doubled face for Marilyn, and the background patterns. Then, I added Picasso's self-portrait, 1907, with his face flipped to the right to look at the pig. From Guernica, 1937, the lamp is over the self-portrait and the eyes of the bull are on the pig. Sometimes I look for keywords to apply to my art. On Picasso the artist, it is written ‘Excepcional’. On Picasso the pig, it is written ‘An Icon’. In 2019, Picasso, The Pet Pig was awarded the Best in Show by judge Dean Mitchell (Florida) at the National Exhibition of the Artists of Northwest Arkansas.
Picasso The Pet Pig, recycled paper relief on wood panel, 24” x 30”
AAS: You have also done some incredible paper sculptures. She Cries is amazing!
She Cries, recycled paper sculpture, 7”h x 8”w x 8”d
EJ: She Cries, as a theme, has been present in many of my artworks. The first one was an acrylic painting in 2006, which reflected the state of my soul in the first years after I arrived in the US. Then, in 2014 I made the paper version of the acrylic painting and the She Cries sculptures. In 2017, I added it to a self-portrait, Recovery (see below). The sculpture is depicted in the background over a pedestal as a symbol of the past. I use office paper because it makes sturdier sculptures. But sometimes I use phonebook or magazine pages like in the Three Friends and She Sings sculptures (see below).
AAS: You have had many solo exhibitions over the last few years and even more group exhibitions. What has the reaction to your work been like?
Aleppo Forget-Me-Not, recycled paper collage, 18h” x 24w” x 6”d
EJ: The public reacts well to the technique and the environmental aspect of my work. The art is neat, time-consuming, it recycles piles of paper, and is innovative. Overall, I have seen collectors overcoming their concerns about paper art and viewers expecting and even asking for what comes next. At solo exhibitions, I try not to focus on the technique even though the quality of the final product is very important to me. Instead, I tell a story, make a point, or highlight facts that are food for thought. For example, Aleppo-Forget-Me-Not is an ode to the little boy on an orange chair rescued in Syria, who became an internet sensation for a week then forgotten. While some accepted the challenge to not forget the consequences of war, others turned their face and called it creepy. Another example is the series Neighbors and Neighborhood, a shifting point from technique to meaning. You can see the whole collection at my website www.eloajane.com
Art Ventures Gallery, which represents me in Fayetteville, and Crystal Bridges Museum Store are the major connections I have with the public in Northwest Arkansas. I have been working on expanding exposure beyond Arkansas borders. So far I have had group exhibitions in Maryland, Virginia, New York, Texas, and Barcelona, Spain. Arkansas Art Council, Mid-America Arts Alliance, ANA-Artists of Northwest Arkansas, ACNMWA -Arkansas Committee for the National Museum of Women in the Arts, have helped to achieve my goals with grants, training, and awards.
AAS: In 2020 you earned the Best in Show Juror’s Award at the Maryland Federation of Art Exhibition with Moonlight Paddle and an Honorable Mention for The Kind Mowers. Those are wonderful pieces. Were you able to attend the exhibition?
Moonlight Paddle, recycled paper relief on wood panel, 30” x 24”
EJ: They were both online exhibitions due to the pandemic isolation. At the #Woman exhibition, Moonlight Paddle was awarded one of the Juror's choices by Dr. Doreen Bolger, who was director of the Baltimore Museum of Art for 17 years until 2015. This piece, also from the Neighbors and Neighborhood series, depicts a woman from the group of residents who paddle at the end of the day and return when the moon is full up in the sky. Moonlight Paddle was also selected for the Risk Everything exhibition at Manifest Destiny Gallery in Barcelona, Spain where images of international artists were projected on a large screen for a month.
The Kind Mowers depicts my studio (with messy grass) on one side of the road, and my neighbor's yard across the street with a very neat lawn. I could hear the low hum of the sound of neighbors Challey and Jeff graciously helping me with my lawn. The composition is based on a drone shot of the area. I spent lots of time searching for green prints on magazines.
The Kind Mowers, recycled paper relief on wood panel, 24” x 24”
AAS: In 2020 you were awarded an Artist 360 Program grant from the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Walton Family Foundation. Congratulations! Would you talk about that grant and the Artists 360 Program?
EJ: Thanks, Phil. Artists 360 provides funds for professional development to artists of greater NWA. I was awarded in the Creative Research and Professional Advancement category. The grant covers the expenses of an art residency in Brazil that is part of the new project. The trip had to be postponed because of the pandemic, but I expect to go soon.
AAS: So, Eloa Jane, what is next for you? What can we expect to see in the coming years?
EJ: I have been working since January 2020 on the new series named Abroad, an In-Complete Journey. It is a collection of recycled paper reliefs, tapestries, and sculptures that chronicles the inner thoughts of immigrants as they embark on a life-changing journey not only to a new country but to a new self. It is inspired by the Hero's Journey, a literary narrative for epic stories and responses to a survey still ongoing for Brazilian immigrants. I bring some new techniques to this project with the addition of twelve 84 x 48 inch tapestries. It is so far the largest project in my career, with a total of 48 pieces and an art book publication. I expect to premiere the series in 2023.
