About the Artist
A Southern California native, Jana Booker has been involved in the arts since her early childhood. Her mother, Helen, who passed her natural ability to her daughter, nurtured her passion for the arts through her constant pursuit of the creative.
In the 1970’s, Jana’s persona was that of a wild child. She didn’t exactly fit into the mold of the average female. Choosing to walk to her own beat, Jana studied the industrial arts bypassing home economics, and found herself to be the only female in those classes. Taking the heat from all the boys became a way of life for her. Going against the crowd paid off when she was honored student of the month in woodshop, metal shop and drafting classes.
Outside of the classroom Jana was known as one of the best female skateboarders of the time. She won the title “California State Champion” in 1977. Her time was spent getting crazy in empty swimming pools and the great skate parks scattered throughout California from Santa Cruz to San Diego. If you saw Stacey Peralta’s documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, Jana skated with them all.
In her early 20’s Jana went back to her artistic roots and started a screen-printing business with a friend. Self-taught, she owned and operated Mor Duds, Ink for over four years, learning a great deal in the process.
In 1991 her life took an unexpected turn as Jana began a career as a sculptor in Disney’s Imagineering. It was there she rediscovered her passion of the visual arts. Working with some of the most talented artists and craftsmen in the world, she quickly honed her skills. In less than two years, she had accomplished an impressive and versatile body of work that gave her the confidence, experience and portfolio she needed to work on movies. She quickly landed assignments as a sculptor on Disney’s Hocus Pocus and Batman ll and lll. During the past decade she has been commissioned to create sculptures for over 20 feature films. Jana’s clients include Sony, Warner Bros. Universal, Disney, Paramount Studios and Disneyland parks in Tokyo, Paris, and the United States.
As her sculpting developed, Jana found herself drawn to the human form. She has recreated figurative sculptures in every style from medieval to classical to contemporary. She is not afraid of scale, either. Her sculptures range from 24-inch maquettes to 24-foot monuments. A few of her most challenging assignments included replicas of the Presidential busts displayed in the White House set for the film The American President, a 24 foot detail of the Arc de Triomphe for the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas and five 12 foot statues depicting 18th century heroes.
In the summer of 2005, Jana was hired to be the lead sculptor of Claus Oldenburg’s 45 foot “Collar and Bow” for the entrance of the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Working in the entertainment industry is a highly competitive and creative field. Talent alone is not enough to survive. Jana’s professionalism and high standards have made her an asset to many designers and architects.
A few years ago, Jana sought out her own form of expression. In her studio, she began experimenting with uncommon materials to better express her wonder for God’s greatest creation, humanity. Through trial and error she developed and innovative process for shaping leather into sculptures.
Her first series entitled “Indigenous Tribes” focuses on indigenous people from Africa to the Americas, celebrating the diversity of the human form. Her sculptures go beyond what one would believe to be leather. There is a realism and soul to her work that touches the mind and heart of the observer. She is dedicated to documenting these tribes throughout her lifetime, so in the future others will be able to look into the eyes of these wonderful people that have inhabited planet earth.
