Eanaj Janae is a self-taught artist originally from Southern California that uses her captivating art to spotlight the Black community’s struggles and triumphs, including mental health challenges and the strength required to endure. Often incorporating color and vibrant expressions, Eanaj Janae gives the feeling of joy, being happy, and being seen in her art as well.
“I think that my purpose for my art is to showcase Black culture in a positive way. I think, a lot of times, Black culture is presented in a certain manner, and that’s very limiting,” she says. “We’re not supposed like anime, or we’re not supposed to be able to venture outside of the struggle that they like to put onto Black culture. But our American culture is basically Black culture. So, there’s so many things that we could be representative, and I try to do that in my artwork.
Eanaj Janae likens venturing into an art piece to a child coming alive at any given time. She recalls being an adventurous child, always creating, doodling and drawing over her homework. “I used to do things like jump off the side of the banister, and I was fearless. I think as I got older, being an adult, we kind of step away from being that childlike manner,” she says. “So I think me being an artist is me trying to get back to being spontaneous saying ‘Hey, there’s somebody in there that you used to know. Let’s see what she would like to say.’”
Eanaj Janae shares that she’s always thought of art as therapy. The process of creation, the repetition of painting or moving or maneuvering things, and placing something from inside your mind onto a canvas is a way of healing, she believes. “I’ve always thought that art should be taught in that way because it would help our mental awareness and mental health. I’m not very good with words, but I was able to communicate through art.”
Eanaj Jane covers a wide range of topics with her art, including the complexity of time and how to navigate it, and her interpretation of inspirational gospel music, and love and hate songs. However, not all of the subjects in her art are what she is personally going through. “I think sometimes, it’s more than just me. I think that my art is supposed to be helping more than myself, so I will navigate other people’s issues that I probably haven’t or haven’t had the chance to go through personally.”
On of Eanaj Janae’s most recent bodies of work was for the group exhibition, Healing, Connection and Preservation. Her series focused on relief. “That is something that was very personal to me. I was having some sort of physical pain and not knowing how to get rid of it or move past it,” she shares. “I wanted to kind of personify that moment when the world feels like it’s crashing down, everything’s heavy, and you get that moment of relief. It’s almost a bit euphoric. I wanted to capture that moment in this series with different types of relief, not just the physical type, but emotional too. I just want you to feel something and be present in the moment.”
Some of Eanaj Janae’s work is available for purchase at vikavisualarts.org/eanajjanae.
