THE YEARNING SPACE / R.K. JANTZI
ARTIST STATEMENT
As a traditionally trained artist and writer, I find great pleasure in the space where word and emotional expression meet sculptural form and texture. This piece breaks the boundaries of the static word as it turns through and around the concept of love and loss and the ever-presence of a relationship that no longer exists in this time and space, yet still holds bodily form.
R.K JANTZI / ALLENTOWN, PA
Having developed and then quit many toxic vices (drinking, smoking, self harm, disordered eating, abusive and inappropriate relationships, and promiscuity,) R.K. Jantzi is now left with the unquittable food, a number of chronic health problems and impending surgeries, and the label of “obese” that she acquired while growing her child in utero.
One hundred pounds ago at the height of poor mental health and dangerous behavior, her thin frame won her the cultural and medical acceptability that is now denied her based on her increased weight. Now that her good mental health and stability allow her to nourish a young toddler, R.K. resents the “skinny=healthy” construct that refuses to acknowledge her happiness until she loses one third of her body weight.