An artist with roots and wings
Erin Jagneaux's work isn't what you would call "Cajun," yet it is this area that informs and influences her work in a way that's easy to understand and hard to define.
"I feel like Southern people have a really unique voice in the world," the printmaker says. "We have a really tight knit community and a whole lot of culture."
A UL grad, Jagneaux headed north and got her MFA at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design before returning to her hometown in 2012. While in Boston, the beauty and realities of her roots were front and center in her work, including her thesis on the BP oil spill. Much of her work is centered around nature. And that would be the unique nature found only in the wilds of South Louisiana. But, most of her work, she says, is a look at inner conflict as well.
"It always seems to reflect the turmoil, and that has remained the constant in my work," Jagneaux says.
Jagneaux's art is often more physical than some other media. The technical nature of printmaking and the process are something she relishes.
"I really, really enjoy the physicality of wood cut. It's very zen like," she says.
Jagneaux doesn't remember a time she wasn't creating art, and while turmoil is something that surfaces in her work, she's not torn at all about where she is and what she's doing.
"I try to get to the essence of a person," she says of her art. And as for her own essence? It's right here at home.
