About
STATEMENT
My recent work satirizes and interrogates nationalism, drawing parallels between extreme fandom and nationalistic fervor. The way people attach their identity to sports teams mirrors the intensity of national loyalty, offering a lens to critically examine how such extreme associations are built and sustained. I immerse myself in local football matches in pubs around London, observe international games, and study the crowd—hands clasped in prayer, cheeks flushed with the heat of shouting, and eyes wet with emotion. I use these details for oil paintings.
These moments reveal the undercurrents of collective narcissism, Alexandra Cichocka’s behavioral sciences paper ‘Nationalism as collective narcissism’ summarizes the concept as a necessary defense mechanism to tactics deployed by fascist leaders, and a reaction to social and economic instability.
The human experience that fuels such emotional investment is one I deeply respect. My paintings reflect these raw, intense, and often contradictory reactions with a sympathetic eye, but through the use of slightly sarcastic and humorous titles, I aim to create space for reflection—one that recognizes the absurdity in these profound emotional ties. This distance allows the viewer to engage with the material while questioning the realities of those attachments. Ultimately, my work is driven by a desire to understand the psychological roots of extreme associations like nationalism. By examining the layers that shape these ideologies, I believe we can begin to dismantle the harmful impulses they generate.
CV
EDUCATION
2024-25 Royal College of Art MA Painting
2022 BFA Art University of Reading, Reading UK
2020 UMPRUM Painting Studio, Prague, Czech Republic
SOLO EXHIBITION
2024 Slightly Underdressed, Atelier Analog, Vienna, Austria
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Past Meets Present, 15 Bateman St, London UK
2025 DOMINION, Safehouse 1 & 2, London UK
2024 The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London UK
2024 REJECTS, Art Friend, London UK
2024 FEM ART, duo show with Jyoti Zeilinger, LOKAL Architecture, Vienna, Austria
2022 Common Room Degree Show, University of Reading, Reading UK
2022 Artists for Ukraine Fundraiser, Open Hand Open Space Gallery, Reading UK
2022 Bloomin Hell Spring Show, University of Reading, Reading UK
2021 Group Show Exhibition, Broad Street Mall, Reading, UK
2021 Klauzura, Online Exhibition, UMPRUM Prague, CR
2020 Externalise!, The Rising Sun, Reading, UK
2017 Minty Boi Collective Show, Lyric Hyperion Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Minty Boi Collective Show, MCAU Gallery Los Angeles, CA
2016 Minty Boi Collective Show, Basic Flowers, Los Angeles, CA
PRINT PUBLICATION
2023 Die Lokal Bühne Issue 1 & 2, Collaboration with Katta S. Apetauer, Vienna, Austria
2023 From Here For Now, Graphic Novel, Montpellier, France
2022 Common Room, UOR Typography Department, University of Reading Degree Show Publication
2019 Different By Design Zine, UOR Film Studios
2019 Swampcone Magazine, Issue 6 “Closed”
2018 The G Word, Issue 1
2016 Girls Club Magazine“The Quarter Life Crisis Issue”
2015 Sad Girl Magazine, Issue 1
2015 Heartbreak Nation Zine, Issue 6
ONLINE PUBLICATION
2025 Meet Jane Mechner - BoldJourney
2022 RSA Graduates - Jane Mechner
2022 Does Burnt Sugar Taste Sweet? - Artists For Ukraine
2016 Dazed - “Is this what your quarter life crisis looks like?”
2016 Ripening Zine #1 - Coming of Age
RESIDENCIES & WORKSHOPS
2024 8 Week workshop at Florence Academy of Art, Gothenburg, Sweden.
2023 5 Day workshop with Andy Nabong at Vienna Atelier of Traditional Art VATA, Vienna, Austria.
2022-2023 L’Atelier Fraise, Montpellier France. 8 month residency creating a graphic novel From Here For Now
SELECTED COMMISSIONS
2024-25 Illustration work for Sphärman, Biosphäre News
2020 Illustrations for In Search of the Music Man by Charity Whan
2020 Illustrations for Patrick Ladislav Maurice, Senatorial Policies Proposition ‘Réconcilions Nous!’
2018 Shirt Merchandise Design for Wolftyla