Meet Jane Goren | Fine Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jane Goren and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jane, why did you pursue a creative career?
I would have to say that I did not pursue an artistic career…it pursued me. I majored in Biology and minored in Art at Brooklyn College. I found that drawing things I saw microscopically was quite compelling. I also loved depicting dissections. These things found their way into my paintings and jewelry designs. I worked as an immunohemotologist at Bellevue Hospital in NYC and found myself rearranging bloody slides into floating staircases which I adapted to set designs for an off – Broadway theater I was working at at the time. I quit my paying job and took the chance and the rest is history. I have been immersed in my life and career as an artist ever since.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My artwork is energized by my ability to see absolutely everything as potential art supplies. I enjoy watching people and find inspiration in the things they discard. That said, I have worked with a variety of materials in 2 and 3 dimensions examining themes of disorientation, voyeurism and eroticism often working with discarded materials, raising issues of materialism and relative value. I am also known for doing portraits from life, often in as little as 2 or 3 minutes. Fidel Castro owned one of my small portraits, as did Vaclav Havel. However, the works I am most proud of are the portraits I do as reverse glass paintings in vintage windows. In repurposing vintage windows and painting them in reverse I have created a metaphor for transition and the duality of life and death, resurrection and transformation. Every day remains a challenge. Making art and selling art require opposite skills. I have been represented by galleries and have represented myself. My work can currently be seen at the Camel’s Garden Hotel in Telluride Colorado, where there are windows hanging in every room and public spaces. It can also be seen on Instagram @janegoren and @auntiegraffiti

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is a tough one in a pandemic year. I have gone nowhere nor have I eaten out in a year. I like to hike and I go to the Santa Monica mountains off of Nichols Canyon where you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere but if you want to you can hike into the heart of Hollywood. I also like the Berlin Forest which is around the Griffith Observatory and Arlington Garden in Pasadena. I like to grab lunch at Zhengyalov Hatz in Glendale. They make the freshest most delicious crepe filled with a variety of greens and it’s the only thing they serve. It is incomparable. For Dinner I like Petit Trois on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks. For Brunch I like Salazar in Frogtown and next door to that Zebulon for music at night. A nice place to hang out is the roof of the NeueHaus in Hollywood. I hope any of this still exists as I haven’t been anywhere.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My drawing professor at Brooklyn College, Ad Reinhardt

I would also like to dedicate my shoutout to Irina and Michael Zivian who gave me my first exhibition in Telluride at the Ice House Gallery and for their continued support throughout the years.

Instagram: @janegoren @auntiegraffiti

Linkedin: Jane Goren

Facebook: Jane Goren

Other: https://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/38482-jane-goren

Image Credits
Personal photo by Michele Mattei