Jahniah Kum

Work Only Residency:

After significantly changing my major twice and choosing art as my major I began developing a body of work. This body of works represents a shift of many things that reflects significant life events. I wanted to deal with the technicality of developing challenging compositions. My earlier works start way beyond high school but there are some significant earlier works before my collegiate art career. My journey prior to university was guided by many talented mentors and professionals. The IB art program at Albany high school in New York helped me solidify my passion within within higher education to pursue art overall. Over the past few years, black and white photography became my favorite. Due to the composition of the photograph, it becomes all about the subject being photographed. I gained curiosity within medium format photography; black and white photography portraiture became something I wanted to practice and study over time.

Beginning in high school I took an interest in mixed media. This is one of the many reasons photography is a major asset to my painting compositions. Folk art has also become a major asset to my artistic development. Since the pandemic of 2020 rug making is a skill I have been exploring. I wanted to bring my painting compositions towards a different medium and the choice I made was perfect! All of the rugs made so far have been off acrylic and wool yarn. I aspire to get into hand weaving rugs and mates later on but currently, I make rugs in between paintings. Other mediums I take an interest in are digital drawing and tech – developing filters, websites and, illustration specifically is what grabbed my attention. I usually get pulled into other mediums when I need a break or have a need for art to feel fun at times. Enjoy!