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About Janet
Janet Goldner is a New York City-based interdisciplinary artist. Her steel sculpture, photography, video, text, installation, and social projects bridge diverse cultures, exploring and celebrating similarities and differences. Goldner’s work has been exhibited in over thirty solo exhibitions and over one hundred fifty group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally.
If you’re in the NYC area, check out Janet’s installation at FiveMyles. Her work will be on display February 22 - March 16, 2025
Some highlights from our conversation
JG: “Being an artisan is something that’s really respected and necessary for the culture… a craftsperson is really skilled and makes beautiful things, but they make the same thing over and over again. Where artists make something unique and maybe they don’t have as much skill as the artisan does.”
JJ: “There’s the conversation of beauty versus meaning within art. If you’re conveying a certain emotion or energy or trying to convey a certain message, it kind of usurps the need for craft if you can say it without this high level of skill.”
JG: “I use pretty thin gauge steel. It allows me to cut and weld and draw. Most people are trying not to burn through and I’ve kind of made a virtue out of drawing and writing on the steel with a welding torch.”
JJ: “I’m curious to hear your take on the current art world.”
JG: “I think the community in this moment is around our political situation and the dire things that are happening and what we, in community with artists and non artists, can do to resist…work on something that you care about and trust that other people are working on things that they care about.”
JJ: “I do feel that art is such a way to have a voice and be able to bring important issues to the table. And I think more than anything it shows this commonality between us which is what’s so important right now. To not be led by fear but to be able to show up in the ways that we can and in the ways that are authentic to us. And to remind each other that we’re here and that there’s a community of likeminded people who have a deep humanity and love for one another. And I think if that is energy that we can carry through then we’ll all be better off in the long run…I’ve decided that being hopeful is the right course of action.”
JG: “I’ve always felt like the child of immigrants. So I relate very personally and deeply to migration...The way that different people figure out how to live on this earth is the most interesting thing. And it gives a richer, deeper understanding of what’s going on and people solve different problems…knowing other cultures gives me information about my own culture.”
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