Janelle O’Malley is an interdisciplinary artist, art educator, and independent curator working in Northern Illinois. They received their Bachelors of Fine Art concentrating in Painting from Northern Illinois University in 2012. After working in non profit art education Janelle returned to Northern Illinois University to pursue dual Masters degrees; M.S. in Art and Design Education (2022) and an M.F.A concentrating in Sculpture (2024).  Their work has been recently shown at Coco Hunday Tampa, FL; Wright Museum Beloit, WI; Residency Project Pasadena, CA; Franconia Sculpture Park Minneapolis, MN; Freeport Art Museum Freeport, IL; NIU Art Museum Dekalb, IL; Abington Art Center Jenkintown, PA and Public Space One Iowa City, IA.

* * *

The idea of holding onto nostalgia plays an integral part of my exploration of identity making and collective memory experiences. My own experiences with hyperthymesia have given me an acute perspective on how memory holds sway over us. The phenomenon of vivid memory recall is often activated through sensory stimulation or ephemera.

My work examines found objects, advertisements and archived materials which provides me with the context of how people form shared experiences. This process of inquiry delves into how time shifts can affect most people's perceptions and recollection. My work is pushed further by purposefully excavating parts of my childhood. I use items like school supplies, the scents of lip gloss, textures of plastic, underwhelming snack foods, and absurd toys as entryways. Each collection of references is brought together in environments that challenge the accuracy of remembering. Building forms with found objects and cast materials allows me to reconstruct collections of moments on the brink of being forgotten yet still so vivid. Using media such as plaster, plastics and paper to build forms allows me to delve deeper into the contention between the permanence vs impermanence of memory. I also examine how these collected items affect ideas of self, gender expression and identity formation. The work culminates into micro-environments that invite viewers into reminiscing with me. Each work amplifies the strangeness of existence while holding onto something that seems all too familiar.