Jan Huling was born in Chicago and raised in St. Louis. After attending the Kansas City Art Institute she started her career in greeting card design. She now works in New York City as a product designer, children’s book author and beadist. Neither sketched nor planned, Huling‘s three-dimensional works draw inspiration from her travels to India and Mexico, as well as imagined, playful scenes reminiscent of childhood fairy tales and fantasies. Her work is approachable yet evocative, incorporating spiritual iconography alongside humorous artifacts of contemporary popular culture. The armatures for Huling’s sculptures are an unpredictable mix of forms ranging from Kewpie and Munny dolls to birds and tiny life-sized insects. In addition to seed beads, Huling’s colorful sculptures incorporate a variety of found objects, such as buttons, coins, tokens and costume jewelry. Huling’s slow and meticulous beading process, the intricacy of her swirling, hypnotic patterns, and the spontaneous manner with which Huling approaches each new project results in sculpture that is both delicate and alluring to touch – simply put, she transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Education
1974-1976       BFA, Kansas City Art Institute, BFA
1972-1974       Drake University

Selected Exhibitions
2012    Mikhail Zakin Gallery, Demarest, NJ
            Hunterdon Museum, Clinton, NJ
            SOFA New York, Duane Reed Gallery
            Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO
            Mobila Gallery, Cambridge, MA
            SOFA Chicago, Duane Reed Gallery
2011    SOFA NY, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
            Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
            Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery, Pittsburg, PA
2010    Lyons Wier Gallery, Miami, FL
            Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
            Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
            Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO
            SOFA West, Lyons Wier Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
            SOFA NY, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
            Jersey City Museum, NJ
2009    Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
            Group Show, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
            PULSE Miami, Lyons Wier Gallery, Miami, FL
            Vessel, Rupert Ravens Gallery, Newark, NJ
            Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
            Endless Summer Exhibition, Lyons Wier Gallery, NY
            Art Bazaar, Lyons Wier Gallery, NYC
            The Ice Gallery, Newark, NJ
            American Craft Council Show, Baltimore, MD
            Metro 26, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ
            African Americana, Jersey City, NJ
2008    Bead Museum, Washington, DC
            Montclair Art Museum, NJ 2007
            Celebrate Art ‘07, St. John’s Church, Union City NJ
2005    NJ Arts Annual: Craft, Jersey City Museum, NJ