In this episode, Victoria sits down with Mexican-born, Toronto-based artist Janne Reuss to explore her layered, introspective practice rooted in memory, home, and identity. Janne shares how her process combines photography, collage, and installation, using both physical and digital layering to build complex, dreamlike imagery. Working in long-term series, she reflects on how revisiting the same themes over time allows for deeper understanding and expansion. 

They discuss the value of art fairs as spaces for connection and insight, and how conversations with viewers can shape an artist’s direction. Janne also speaks about the role of reflection in her practice, and how staying deeply connected to her ideas has helped her evolve her work across scale and medium.

Key Takeaways

1. Layering can function as both a material technique and a conceptual framework.
2. Working in series allows artists to deepen and evolve a single idea over time.
3. Expanding across mediums, including installation, can open new perspectives within a practice.
4. Reflection plays a crucial role in gaining clarity and direction as an artist.
5. Mindset and self-trust are essential in supporting creative growth and taking risks.

A thoughtful conversation on building a practice that evolves from within, one layer at a time.

Janne Reuss, born and raised in Mexico City and now based in Toronto, Canada, is a multidisciplinary artist with over two decades of professional experience. She has lived, worked, and exhibited internationally, with five solo exhibitions and numerous group shows across Mexico, the United States, Germany, Italy, and Canada.

Her work has been featured in multiple juried exhibitions, earning recognition including a Best in Show award. In 2020–2021, she completed residencies at Akin x Collision Gallery and the Akin Studio Program at MOCA Toronto, culminating in her solo exhibition Rewriting the Story, a series of overpainted photomontages.

Reuss has participated in the Artist Project Contemporary Art Fair in Toronto in 2024 and 2025, and was invited to return in 2026. She studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Art & Design in Stuttgart and Art History in Mexico. Working across photography, collage, and painting, her practice explores memory, identity, and the imprint of lived experience.

Her work is held in public and private collections, including the Donovan Art Collection at St. Michael’s College (Canada) and the Municipal Gallery of Ostfildern (Germany), and she is currently represented by Petroff Gallery in Toronto.

Website: @jannereuss
IG: artjanne.com

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