Artist Statement

I have a broad creative arts practice that embraces poetry; collage; text; textiles; found art; assemblages; spoken word and performance, but I've noticed they're all informed by an appreciation for the inner-workings of poetry, and the ‘engineering’ that moves it along, which began right back in English Literature lessons at school. I employ the same guiding principles in textile work, photography, and assemblages, as if I were composing a visual poem, with an acute awareness of rhythm and flow, in colour and line.

Years ago, when invited to join a group exhibition based on an interpretation of ‘Icons’, I made my first devotional collage-icons - surrounded by tiny scraps of torn paper, much like jigsaw puzzle pieces. Now my collage practice has developed to the point where I work much more intuitively and quickly, able to trust my hands to tear-cut-and-go! 

Janina Aza Karpinska is a multi-disciplinary Artist-Poet from the south coast of England. Poetry informs her collage-making with an eye for the 'chime' of pattern, motif, and colour, and the rhythm and flow of line. Working quickly and intuitively, she trusts to the process of making disparate elements work together. Her collage-work has appeared on the covers of Heart of Flesh; Chichester Magazine; West Hove News, and in Bath House Journal; Young Ravens Literary Review; Grim & Gilded; The Empty Mirror; 3 Elements Review, Blue Mesa Review, and Antler Velvet, among others.