{"id":267051,"date":"2026-02-04T11:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/267051\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T11:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:09:17","slug":"jana-frosts-set-designs-are-inspiration-for-fever-dreams-made-with-an-a3-printer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/267051\/","title":{"rendered":"Jana Frost\u2019s set designs are \u201cinspiration for fever dreams\u201d made with an A3 printer"},"content":{"rendered":"

London-based, multidisciplinary artist Jana Frost<\/a> is making \u201cinspiration for fever dreams\u201d. Merging fashion photography with collage-art sensibilities, Jana employs cut-out animations, large-scale installations and a directorial style that prioritises several elements coming together to build physical, dreamlike environments. In a nutshell, Jana takes the aesthetic of pop-up books and makes them life-sized, turning dream imagery into physical reality.<\/p>\n

Sourcing public domain images from libraries and archives, Jana reworks materials then unifies them \u2013 and in the process, creates photographic works that play with time. \u201cYou can\u2019t really tell when the work was made, and all the different elements start to melt into one another instead of standing out as separate pieces,\u201d says Jana. Because Jana doesn\u2019t have access to large-scale printing, she produces at home using a basic A3 printer, breaking artworks into hundreds of small pages then stitching them together in what becomes a creative meditation.<\/p>\n

After collaging 400 pages per set, she encourages models to interact with artwork, including loose elements from the fragile, paper art works. \u201cThe final composition is very much shaped by how they move and respond in the moment. It\u2019s not something you can fully plan, it\u2019s more about reacting to the energy of the day,\u201d says Jana.<\/p>\n

Surrealism plays a big role in how Jana creates. Artists like Hilma af Klint, Dora Maar, Dorothea Tanning and Leonora Carrington have been especially important to her practice, as well as the cinematic works of Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s, Karel Zeman and Andrei Tarkovsky, all creatives who worked on film in a time when theatre had recently dominated the world, lending \u201cplayful, handmade and slightly magical\u201d qualities to visual culture. It\u2019s evident in Jana\u2019s work \u2013 the nautical and astrological are caught in stark, early film stock monochromes, referencing classic myths as well as challenging a modern myth: you don\u2019t need professional equipment to create something amazing.<\/p>\n