Drawings on Paper
Pen and ink is a timeless medium that Jelen will always love and is what first motivated her to start printmaking later in her career. As a child, the engravings in old fairy tale books moved her to imitate them. She was especially inspired by the great French engraver, Gustave Doré, and one can see his influences in her work, even today.
She is fascinated by the meditative quality of the lines and the crisscrossing that builds up the shades in her illustrations. For her, drawing is not only a journey inward to her childhood wonder, it is a way to connect with her grandfather, Miklós Bánffy, an author and visual artist in his own right. Jelen has a deep appreciation for his stories and has made it a point to share her interpretation in the same way she imitated old fairytale drawings from her childhood. Having come full-circle, she embraces coming back to her roots.