ABOUT JESSIE

Born in 1997, Wellington, New Zealand

Lives and works in Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa

Jessie Kanji is a multi-disciplinary artist, researcher and educator based in Aotearoa. Following the migration of her grandparents from Gujarat, India, in the 1940s, she grew up in Wellington. Informed by her background in medical science, specialisation in print, and her experiences with the cultures of Warli, Huichol, and Latin-American people, her art searches for the balance between order and chaos.

Patterns in her inner world form the lens by which she sees the world. Jessie uses print as a methodology of accessing colour, pattern, culture, memory and meaning. In the amber-like qualities of ink, her work seeks to evoke the concept of rasa - a state of total absorption and emotional resonance.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science in Physiology, University of Auckland, NZ, 2019

Postgraduate Diploma of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, NZ, 2023

AWARDS

National Youth Art Award - WSA, Merit Award, 2023

Printopia Print Prize First Award, Tertiary Category, 2022

He Kakano Seed Funding - The Prince's Trust

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS + PROJECTS

2024

Future Call: VCA, The University of Melbourne

'Ū mai ko te Taniwha', Research Assistant to Professor Dr. Joyce Campbell

NZ Painting and Printmaking Award WSA Finalist Exhibition

2023

Printopia Festival of Original Print Awards Finalist Exhibition

National Youth Art Awards WSA Finalist Exhibition

Cleveland Art Awards Finalist Exhibition, Dunedin, Otago

Reading Between the Lines, Lake House Arts, Auckland

2022

'Rasa', Bledisloe Lane Light Boxes, Artist & Curator, Art in the City, Auckland

'Gerry rig', Te Ahu Collective Gallery, Ponsonby, Auckland

Synonyms of Something: Oddly Projects, Auckland

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2024

Ink, Fabric, Action! Into to Silk-screen printing, Printopia Festival, Auckland

Printmaking Classes, Weekly, Term 2, Toi Ora, Auckland

Screen Printing Classes, Weekly, Term 1, Toi Ora, Auckland

2023

Sustainable Fashion Friday, NZ Fashion Week, Textile Printing Workshop, Auckland

Printmaking Technician, Part-time, Semester 2, Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland

Screen Printing Classes, Weekly, Term 4, Toi Ora, Auckland

Young Emerging Artist Classes, Weekly, Term 1, 2 & 3, Toi Ora, Auckland

Textile Printing Workshop, Late Night Art Market, Ellen Melville Centre, Auckland

T-Shirt Screen Printing Workshop, Te Manawa, Auckland Council, Westgate

2022

Intro to Knot-Making, The Space, Auckland

Macrame Bracelet Making, Commonspace, Wellington