JANA GHALAYINI
ورد المجنون/ ward al majnoon (crazy flower) is a body of work that explores the connection between female sexuality in the swana region and the bougainvillea flower. Al majnoon (the crazy one) is a phrase of describing the bougainvillea flower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where the artist grew up. The plant grows to take up many shapes and moves in every direction, unstoppable. It's beauty and resilience is often neglected or seen as a nuisance. Experimenting with the variation and intensity through the process of screen-printing a feeling of raw, and vibrant abstraction is created with the bougainvillea flower patterns. Printed sporadically across sheer silk chiffon, a delicate yet resilient material.
Jana Ghalayini (b.1993) is a Palestinian-Canadian visual artist currently based in Toronto, Canada. She earned her BFA in Printmaking from OCAD University in 2017. The artist is influenced by material exploration of texture, patterns and abstraction and works closely with a range of mediums such as painting, hand-printing, and weaving. Her process driven work investigates home, heritage and lived experiences. Jana works intuitively, learning while making, her interest for tactile objects and crafts are rooted within the technical proficiency of her ancestral heritage of weaving, embroidery, and ornaments/ talismans.