Janet Echelman

Janet Echelman
Echelman at the 2011 TED Conference
Born	February 19, 1966 (1966-02-19) (age 51) Tampa, Florida
Nationality	United States
Education	Harvard University
Known for	Sculpture Public Art
Awards	Guggenheim Fellowship

Janet Echelman (born February 19, 1966) is an American sculptor and artist. She is best known for her large aerial net sculptures which have been featured in outdoor exhibitions and permanent installations around the world. These respond to wind and light and have a theme of interconnectedness, often involving an interactive component with the audience.

Prominent works include: 1.26, which has featured in exhibitions on five continents; Her Secret Is Patience in downtown Phoenix; Water Sky Garden which premiered for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics; She Changes on the waterfront in Porto, Portugal; and Every Beating Second at San Francisco International Airport.

Recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, Echelman was named an Architectural Digest 2012 Innovator for "changing the very essence of urban spaces." Her TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk "Taking Imagination Seriously" has been translated into 33 languages and is estimated to have been viewed by more than a million people worldwide.

Echelman built her studio beside her home, where she lives with her husband, David Feldman, and their two children.

Echelman set out to be an artist after graduating college. In 1987, she moved to Hong Kong on a one-year graduate art scholarship to study calligraphy and brush-painting. Later, she moved to Bali and worked with artisans to combine traditional textile methods with contemporary painting. When her bamboo house was destroyed by a fire, Echelman returned to the United States and for seven years taught at Harvard as an artist-in-residence.

In 1997, Echelman won a Fulbright Senior Lectureship and traveled to India with the intention of giving painting exhibitions around the country. Her artistic supplies were lost in transit to Mahabalipuram, so she began working with local bronze-casters but the material was heavy and too expensive for her budget. While watching fishermen bundling their nets, Echelman was inspired to take a new approach to sculpture, creating volumetric form without heavy, solid materials. In collaboration with the fishermen, Echelman created a series of netted sculptures by the end of her Fulbright year, her "Bellbottoms" series.