What if the moods you are channelling are not your own, yet compel you to paint every day? And what if the constant ask of the paint is to “make it wilder,” and you speak back to it in tongues? These are just a few of the preoccupations of Canadian abstract painter Janna Watson. To move through her first self-published monograph is to experience the artist’s magnetic pull toward the canvas, followed by her compulsive steps back.

Spanning four recent bodies of work, the book brings together a glorious selection of paintings, stunning photographs of the artist’s process and workspaces, and an evocative essay alongside a revealing interview. Linen-bound and tactile, the catalogue offers the closest one might come to peeking through Janna Watson’s large-rimmed glasses — and seeing the world through her singular lens.

Layers of Self: Janna Watson
Words by Lisa Cristinzo and Tory Healy
Edited by Tory Healy and Cristian Ordóñez
Graphic Design by Cristian Ordóñez
ISBN: 978-1-0699288-0-1
Pages: 144
Available: May 2026