Katarina Janeckova Walshe Untitled from the series Finding Strength in Confined Spaces

Inspired by the roles of masculinity and femininity, the wide availability of sexual content, and challenging the male gaze through sexual liberation, the Slovakia-born and Texas-based Katarina Janeckova Walshe uses playful colors and characters to direct and discover the role of sexuality in the modern world. Katarina’s series for Her Clique speaks to the notion of finding one’s strength in an oppressive environment. “These small paintings that I made are of intimate scenes, made with thick brush strokes. They feel crowded and confined to the small canvas space, but at the same time the women depicted are showing their confidence, strength and hope. The artworks’ paint covers the corners of the canvas, allowing the painting to reach beyond the confined spaces, same as we should always be able to reach out and ask for help,” Katarina Janeckova Walshe.

Katarina Janeckova Walshe was born in 1988 in Bratislava, Slovakia. From 2009 to 2013, she pursued her education and received an MA in Painting from the Academy of Fine Art in Bratislava with her first solo show in 2009. She currently resides in Corpus Christi, Texas as well as New York. Inspired by the roles of masculinity and femininity, the wide availability of sexual content, and challenging the male gaze through sexual liberation, Janeckova Walshe uses playful colors and characters to direct and discover the role of sexuality in the modern world. Cartoonish bears depict the virility of men while beautiful women in Rococo colors play and pose for the audience, allowing viewers to reflect on their own preconceived notions of gender roles and identity. No stranger to representing dichotomies in her work, Katarina flirts with a fantastical world based on her honest interpretations of the life she has experienced.

As a European in America, Janeckova Walshe is also fascinated with eccentricities of what she has witnessed from American life in Southern Texas, exploring gym culture, American masculinity, and the Southwestern landscape. With the birth of her first child and residing in a new country so different from her own, Katarina tackles the beautiful and surreal moments of day-to-day life with work that reflects these new adventures. Janeckova Walshe has shown internationally in five countries with a large following around Europe and North America.