ABOUT JESSIE

Jessie Kanji is a multi-disciplinary artist 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, 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

2019 Science Degree in Physiology, University of Auckland, NZ

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

Awards

National Youth Art Award - Art Waikato, Merit Award

Printopia Print Prize First Award, Tertiary Category

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023

Art in the Park: Eden Park, Auckland

Printopia Festival of Original Print Awards Finalist Exhibition

Cleveland Art Awards Finalist Exhibition - Dunedin, Otago

Reading Between the Lines - Lake House Arts, Auckland

2022

Bledisloe Lane Light Box Installation, Art in the City, Auckland

Art in the Park: Eden Park, Auckland

Te Ahu Collective: Ponsonby, Auckland

Cross-Crits Collective Show: Oddly Projects Auckland

Arrowtown Art Union Exhibition: Lakes District Art Gallery Arrowtown