Jan’s work explores home, family, birth, death, and identity. Her sculpture has frequently used found objects / furniture which she has deconstructed and remade. She now makes pieces with sculptural and new furniture elements. Her latest series involves closets / cabinets / reliquaries to house objects that evoke personal memories or sacredness.
Jan holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas and a B.F.A. (Sculpture) from Eastern Michigan University. She worked in facilities design / construction and project management for 30 years while continuing her artistic pursuits in parallel. Jan returned to EMU in 2021 for an M.F.A. in Furniture Design and Sculpture. She is a former resident artist of Ypsi Alloy Studios in Ypsilanti, MI.