Jane Maxwell

I have loved fashion since I was a little girl. Some of my earliest memories are of visiting my grandfather’s garment factory in South Boston. He manufactured women’s clothing and I marveled at the huge bolts of fabric, the meticulous pattern makers and industrial stitching machines. Into my adulthood, my love for fashion grew, but I went through a period of deeply resenting the fashion industry for teasing me with clothes that I could neither fit into nor afford. In fact, much of my art over the past 20 years has commented on my complicated relationship with fashion and its direct influence on the cultural epidemic of negative body image.

As I’ve aged, I still can’t fit into most of the fashion I revere and I am still overwhelmed by the price tags, but something has shifted in me. While I still struggle with ambivalent feelings, I have come to terms with the fact that I am deeply and unapologetically moved by fashion. I find it to be creative and innovative. I love the power, confidence and individuality it offers women. I am enamored with the color, shape, texture, fluidity and form of fashion. And, I am happy that the fashion world has begun to embrace women of different shapes and sizes (There is still a very long way to go, but this fashion season, I have seen more curvy women and racial diversity than ever).

Each piece is built with many layers of paper.  I glue down up to 6 layers before I cut into them to reveal the female form.  When I pull back the outline of the woman, I am always surprised by what is unearthed under the many layers.

I love to work with found and vintage papers. I like the way these materials have their own history and unique patina. I am interested in how materials can be manipulated. I think that any piece of art becomes more interesting and authentic when there is a level of complexity and layering of unusual materials.

I use an original method of combining and layering materials with wax. I melt granulated beeswax at a high temperature on a hot palette. I then take several layers of papers that have been glued together, and lay them onto the hot palette and paint on the beeswax. The heat and the beeswax seep through the layers revealing imagery and texture.

Every piece is coated with a high gloss resin. It lends itself well to making the many layers of the work come to life more vividly. I also like the juxtaposition of the vintage materials beneath the modern, slick surface.