Jayna Haze is the artistic translation of Jana Wernicke’s inner mind. From skateboards to Instagram, Jana illustrates with every medium possible, leaving her mark with her signature style.
In conversation with Jana, I learnt that the artist has worked most of her life as a graphic designer in Germany. However, post travelling to New Zealand to pursue the ‘Van Lifestyle’, Jana found a home and sense of belonging in Raglan where she has since stayed.
After taking time to enjoy the surf and sun, Jana picked her pen up again and started creating physically as well as digitally. On a daily basis, Jana surfs, skates and creates which is reflected within her art. Her art takes the form of minimalist illustration, with its contents being clearly inspired by surf, skate and small town culture.
Jayna Haze is pretty happy to work with all artistic mediums. One of Haze’s first works was her mural at Indi’s in 2019- which is something she loves to do. One thing I admire about Haze’s art is the consistency between mediums. Whether she is working with paint, pens, digitally and on paper, wall or skateboard deck- Jayna Haze’s illustrations are still seamlessly and uniquely hers.
The artist said that she draws inspiration for her work all the time- describing it as “a combination of the floating, tiny normal things all around, having coffee, what mates are wearing, doing and saying”.
In relation to inspiration from other artists, Jana says that if she needs to find any she would rather pick up an art history book than scroll through Instagram.
Jana’s works featured in the Raglan Arts Weekend, which gained attraction from a wide range of people- with the artist saying she has since achieved all of her current goals and dreams. Jana describes seeing her work being represented as tattoos on people’s skin, on clothing being worn and on walls in people’s homes. This creates an electric feeling for her.
The Raglan Arts Weekend also contributed to Jayne Haze’s large and growing Instagram following. The ‘gram consists of a feed of predominantly online illustrations and graphics that Jayna Haze also sells and creates, often for business use. One exciting collaboration Jayna Haze has been in recently, is one with Titus Skate. The brand released a collection of clothing made of fabric printed with Haze’s designs. Having her designs on clothes was one of Jana’s biggest goals making the collection a dream come true for the artist.
After talking with Jana Wernicke of Jayna Haze, I gained a deeper appreciation for the artist’s works. They are all created with love, passion and in an iconic style which belongs to Haze. Jayna Haze has accomplished all of her current goals since being in Raglan and she has managed to be consistently creating which is a massive achievement for a young artist who has accomplished much already and with such an exciting future still to come.
Jayna Haze’s works are for sale at Rivet and are showcased on her Instagram @jayna_haze.
Leilani Goodall
