VISIT TO BYU CAMPUS
Thank you, BYU Art Department
March 31, 2009

I had a wonderful time visiting BYU recently, to present the film, WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS, and to show my daughter Margaret around BYU Campus (the first of many college campus visits). We both had a fantastic time. Many thanks to Von Allen, Peter Everett, and Mark Magleby and the entire Department of Visual Arts for their hospitality! Joining us was Pamela Tanner Boll, director of the film.
We showed the film to a full auditorium of enthusiastic art students. They asked many thoughtful questions and generated meaningful commentary.
We also had a screening at the Salt Lake Art Center. Although sparsely attended, the group that attended engaged in wonderful dialogue after the film. Many good friends from college days were there.

Review from the new issue of
NY Arts Magazine, written by Alicia Kelso
January 14, 2009

Many artists are inspired by the chaos in their daily routines. But perhaps few experience the same type of daily bedlam as Columbus ceramicist Janis Mars Wunderlich. Wunderlich admits she?s lucky to get more than 20 minutes at a time in her home studio. She?s typically too busy accounting for her five children, their constantly-coming-and-going friends, their music lessons, sports practices, church meetings, and everything in-between.

It is obvious, however, that Wunderlich is artistically stimulated by her experiences. Her sculptures are lifted straight out of the pages of a children?s book, often featuring human situations with animal-like characters found in such literature. ?Children?s illustrations have a worldview that everyone can relate to and appreciate,? she says. ?And animal imagery makes it generic. If I see human forms, then I immediately think of human characteristics?if it?s too fat or thin, male or female, or Caucasian or African American.?

Her pieces are attractive, detailed, creative, and even evocative. For parents, they?re relevant, humorous, and deeply personal. Although she draws ideas from innocent sources, such as her toddler?s table manners or her teenager?s driving lessons, she considers many of her pieces to be ?dark and edgy.? There is a lot of honesty and intimacy in the finished pieces. Wunderlich?s characters?both subtly and blatantly?depict themes such as raising emotional coming-of-agers alongside tantrum-filled toddlers, accessorizing with children, and perpetually crossing off chores around the house. ?There are plenty of times I think I?m beyond this next pile of laundry, or this next trip to the school or grocery store,? Wunderlich says. ?But a lot of my imagery comes from believing it?s OK to put emphasis on the family, to make that a priority. I know a lot of people get that and appreciate what I?m trying to do with my work.?

The theme of parenting is certainly universal and, accordingly, the artist?s collection has been exhibited all over the world. She has had more than 70 national and international exhibitions in the past five years, from New York City to Berkeley to Munich, Germany.

Creating art is what keeps Wunderlich calm and composed. Although she often finds herself rushing in and out of the studio, and revisiting work months after it was started, she is constantly recording the basic goings-on in the interim, and keeps a journal in every room of the house. ?My children are so funny and imaginative,? Wunderlich says. ?There is always something new. I really do look like a playground sometimes. I know most parents get that, and I think that?s why they respond to my work on a deeper level. It is therapeutic to make this chaos into art instead of having it make me crazy every day. Motherhood is about extreme tasking and being in control of so many things. Being able to put that into a sculpture or a work of art is empowering.?

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Film Review: Who Does She Think She Is?
"Butt-Ugly!"
January 13, 2009

My kids think it is hilarious that FILM JOURNAL calls my work BUTT UGLY... Read the review:
Terrific, engaging and moving documentary about the ongoing conundrum of women in the arts today.

-By David Noh

For movie details, please click here.
?Who does she think she is?? is a refrain constantly heard in conjunction with women in the arts, something this documentary addresses in a fashion that is both moving and feminist in the best possible sense. The focus is upon five artists working in different mediums in different parts of the United States, who have all struggled to find the time and necessary support while raising families to pursue their bliss, but their individual stories bring up certain larger, even global concerns.

Janis Wunderlich, a Mormon mother of five, balances raising kids with creating her bold sculptures, expressive of her harried domestic life. Her work is so in-your-face as to be considered butt-ugly by some, with a daughter expressing a wish that it were less graphic, especially when her friends come over and see all these emerging fetuses around the house. Wunderlich lives sequestered in Columbus, Ohio, far away from the metropolitan centers of artistic commerce, with the occasional show her one opportunity to really reassess work that is always done in a rush, often for fear of household breakage.

Camille Musser lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two children, but her work reflects her upbringing in the Caribbean. Angela Williams is an aspiring actress, with two daughters, whose ambitions have destroyed her marriage. Mayumi Oda celebrates the goddess that exists both in history and, as she says, in every woman and, after an active life as an artist and political activist against Japanese nuclear involvement, has retreated to an idyllic ranch in Hawaii, where she trains other women in living off the land and finding inner fulfillment. Mae Torres is a long-time Taos resident who has brought her heartbreakingly supportive children right into her studio to work alongside her, in a life which may lack certain material niceties, but seems gratifying to all.

Having to choose between family and career is an age-old conundrum and bitter divorces have affected both Williams and, especially, Torres, whose difficult legal experiences over child custody have shown her this country?s basic lack of support for artists, especially female ones. The art world itself appears to echo this, with appalling statistics cited of the low percentage of women artists represented in museums and galleries. Although females make up 80% of students enrolled at an institution like New York?s School of Visual Arts, the ones who make successful careers are rare in this still white male-dominated world. (The Guerrilla Girls, an activist group which continually exposes this inequity, are interviewed as well in Who Does She Think She Is?)

Making a further case for the diminished status of women in the arts and, indeed, in the world itself, various academics also voice the demise of ancient goddess culture, which occurred with the rise of Western civilization and Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions. There?s a case to be made, one says, for the support of women in the arts, as well as the improved status of women in general, as the quality of life improves thusly, far more than with any superior Gross Domestic Product.

There?s gladsome hope to be had, however, for female artists finally reaching more people through the Internet and, indeed, through this very worthy, rewarding film itself.

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October 30, 2008

Last night I had the pleasure of presenting WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS to a Columbus audience! A huge Thank You to my friends who came to support me. The Q and A afterwards had many great questions and several very positive comments. One question that seems to keep coming up at the movie screenings is,
HOW DO YOU DO IT? meaning, how do I keep the balance of art and family, and people want specifics. So although my computer time is limited (meaning, I'd rather be in my studio working than typing away at the computer) I will attempt to write a few posts about the specifics of some things that help me attempt to achieve the balance (although it is an everyday constant struggle and I am NOT perfect at it by any means!!!)
The first issue I want to address is EARNING MONEY FROM ART.
I've never wanted my art making habits to "drain the family coffers" (I don't need more guilt!)... I've always insisted that my art was self-supporting. When I was in Grad School, I had income (albeit not a ton, but enough) from a teaching assistantship (thank you to OSU
In grad school, I learned a "bread and butter" technique from a fellow grad. She made these lovely salt and pepper shakers, and sold them through a gallery store. She made a certain # of sets a month to cover her expenses.
So after grad school, as I was setting up my own studio, I started to make smaller "baby animals" that were fun to make, not too expensive (so they'd sell predictably fast, and quick to make. I found a gallery that was interested in carrying them, as well as my larger, more complicated work.
Not many people were interested in my angst-ridden, excessively detailed mother figures, but they liked the fun little baby animals. Eventually people started to be interested in my larger work, but it really helped to make the smaller work in conjunction.
I would use the money from baby animal sales to pay expenses for my studio, so I was always self sufficient.
My studio setup was pretty simple, so there was minimal cost. I bought some clay and underglazes, and essential raw materials. I bought a used electric kiln, and my electrical engineer genius dad helped me run a line and install an outlet for it out to my garage. I worked on a small table that I put in the corner of our little dining room. And that was my workspace. I worked there for 4 years, until we literally grew out of our little house and were able to move to a house with a studio room. I have many fond memories of strapping my baby to my back, tying a baby toy in my hair to keep him entertained (I'm not kidding, getting all the watercolors out for my older daughter to work while I worked... My pace was much slower then, but it worked to keep me being creative, even if only a couple of hours a day.
Many women have expressed interest in the business side of art-- How do I get my work out there?
How do you get a gallery, make money on your work?
My BYU professor, Von Allen, was key in getting me started on exhibitions. She insisted that, even when we were students, we should enter shows. She encouraged us to ALWAYS photograph our work and keep good records of them. Before I finished my BFA from BYU I had already been accepted to a national exhibition (Feats of Clay! A huge thanks to Rudy Autio who mustv'e seen some potential in my clunky student work!) I also had a large file of reject letters from a very many shows that I didn't get into. But all it took was that ONE YES to really boost my artistic confidence.
Over the years, I have become pretty choosy about which shows to apply to. There are call-for-entry listings in the back of Ceramics Monthly and other arts magazines.I always look at the juror to determine whether he or she would be interested in figurative/expressive work. I also look at the name of the exhibition, and if that line on my resume is worth the cost of entering.
Over the years I would give myself an assignment or goal to enter one exhibition a month. As I entered shows, more people were exposed to my work, and more opportunities to show were opened up to me. A curator who was putting together a figurative exhibition would contact me and invite me to participate. Or a gallery would contact me to see if I was interested in having them carry my work. Plus, there are sometimes prizes, too! It is so much fun to get an award at a show. It is even more fun to get an award, then sell that piece. It is even more fun to get an award, sell the piece, and get an artist's grant from the image. There are many local and state artist grant opportunities, as well as some national grants. Here are some that I've had success with:
GCAC
href="http://www.oac.state.oh.us/grantsprogs/">Ohio Arts Council
Virginia Groot Foundation
My daughter has had enough screen time, so I need to end, more to come!

Clay captures the human form
Review in Cincinnati Enquirer By Sara Pearce
September 23, 2008

Fantastic. Grotesque. Unsettling.

All those words can be applied to the work of Kentucky sculptor Tom Bartel and Ohio sculptor Janis Mars Wunderlich being shown in The Human Form in Clay.

Bartel's fascination with the body plays itself out in misshapen ceramic figures, weathered surfaces, disquieting colors and errant limbs. The work has a sideshow allure that makes a viewer cringe while wanting to see more.

It pairs well with Wunderlich's fanciful, fairytale ceramics, which are heavily influenced by the cast of classic children's' literature.

Plump animals and an odd assortment of childlike creatures romp on the heads, sit on the laps, dance on the shoulders and hang from the arms of elfish figures.

Her palette of muted pastels, created by multiple firings in the kiln, calls a nursery to mind. But any feeling of security is subverted by the kind of troublesome details - a mouthful of children, for example - that represent the thin line between fairy tale and nightmare.

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