Jana’s inspiration is framed around the horizon lines of expansive landscapes and moody ocean vistas where there is a convergence with the sublimity of natural forms. Themes that motivate her works often deal with the energetics of relationships. Whether that is interpersonal or societal, it is in deeply feeling the dynamics of relating and observing the vastness of a collective mind that inspires her imagination.

Jana has created a body of work that has appeared in scores of gallery exhibitions around the country. She has also executed large-scale murals for public art and architecture in Austin’s downtown district and Eastside. She has developed a noted presence in her local art community of Austin, TX, not only as a prolific creator but also as a devoted advocate for the visual arts in Texas.

Since 2019, she has been a member of the ICOSA art collective, a 20 person art group that runs a cooperative gallery at the Canopy art complex in east Austin TX. Jana is a board member of Big Medium, an organization that produces a variety of recurring art programs, including the Austin Studio Tour and the Texas Biennial, a survey of Texas Art.

Big Medium is the culmination of 20 years of collaboration between Jana and fellow artists Shea Little and Joseph Phillips. Their journey began with the conversion of warehouses in East Austin into a thriving live/work studio complex known as Bolm Studios. The three colleagues went on to form Sodalitas Group which produced collaborative work that addressed environmental and social issues, as well as coordinating art exhibitions and permanent installations.

The three artists shifted their vision and co-founded Big Medium which became a non-profit in 2007 to promote the visual arts in Texas and advocate for the Arts community worldwide.

The Jana Swec circa 2001, having just graduated from the School of Visual Arts in NYC with a BFA, would not have imagined the journey she was about to embark on or how her art would develop such vitality through the years.