The Leadership Dance – Ep. 25: Choreographing Wind and Light with Janet Echelman

Date: September 15, 2025
Host: Alissa Hsu Lynch
Guest: Janet Echelman, world-renowned public artist and sculptor

Overview

In this episode, Alissa Hsu Lynch sits down with Janet Echelman, a pioneering artist best known for her monumental, fluid installations that transform public spaces worldwide. Their conversation dives into Janet’s unconventional path, her creative process blending ancient crafts with computational design, leading teams across disciplines, the lessons from her explorations in loss and leadership, and advice for young creatives. The tone of the discussion is candid, inspiring, and rich with personal anecdotes and practical wisdom.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Self as Instrument: The Intuitive Artist

[00:00]

• Janet explains her unique approach, rooted in her psychotherapist background:

  “I use self as instrument… the way that you emotionally are experiencing a situation or a person, you are like a thermometer… you have to take your own responses as feedback. And that's what I do with the site.” – Janet [00:04]

• She isn’t concerned with AI replacing her work, as her art is fundamentally about human emotion and presence.

2. The Book and Museum Retrospective

[03:08] – [05:17]

• Janet’s new book, Radical Softness, is a culmination of 40 years of multidisciplinary practice:

  “It is written by 27 different authors from all around the world… There are texts about engineering… computer science… poetry… dance. So it really is bringing this multidimensional, multidisciplinary practice of the last 40 years together.” – Janet [03:24]

• Two major exhibitions: “Remembering the Future” at MIT Museum, and her retrospective opening at the Sarasota Art Museum in Florida.

• The “Remembering the Future” installation lets visitors “stand at the moment of now” between deep history and multiple potential futures.

3. Early Influences and Unconventional Path

[05:44] – [09:18]

• Childhood in Florida, being the youngest of four, drawn to nature and music.
• Early success in classical piano revealed performance anxiety, prompting a shift to visual arts.
• Her entry into art was essentially avoidance of intimidating reading lists at Harvard:

  “The only reason I ended up in an art class… I was really intimidated by the reading lists… I need at least one class that doesn't have papers.” – Janet [06:38]

• Inspired by Matisse’s reinvention in old age:

  “At every point of life, I'm being pushed to my edge, growing edge, and that there's no one else responsible for that but me.” – Janet [08:15]

• Majored in “Visual and Environmental Studies,” focusing on documentary filmmaking—not sculpture or engineering.

4. Learning from Living Traditions Around the World

[09:33] – [13:44]

• A global journey after college: living in Bali on $300, seeking wisdom in traditional craft.
• Rejection from all art schools became a catalyst for independent exploration:

  “If I wanted to be an artist, that meant just go and live the life of an artist. And I had to find my own teachers.” – Janet [10:50]

• Craft as central to her practice—from Balinese textiles to collaborating with fishermen and tailors in India when left without art supplies.

5. The Evolution: Ancient Craft + Computational Design

[14:03] – [17:02]

• Early collaborations were hands-on; as scale grew, she developed proprietary digital modeling tools with a team, to integrate with structural and aeronautical engineering standards.
• The work must withstand the elements like architecture: “My art has to withstand 155 miles per wind.” [14:37]
• Collaboration with global engineering firms and inventors is crucial.
• Notable Backstory: Frank Gehry encouraged her to create her own software:

  “You should not adapt yourself to the tools that exist. You should develop them yourself because you need to be present at every decision making point so that you are shaping the way it develops.” – Frank Gehry (as recounted by Janet) [17:24]

6. Structure, Improvisation, and Iteration in Art

[18:32] – [23:02]

• Balancing planning (for permanent works) and improvisation (for temporary installations where experimentation is possible).

  “I never expected as an artist to have an R&D department… The research and development is, we're doing it all.” – Janet [21:21]

• Even large works demand blind faith and precision, as they cannot be fully seen until installed:

  “It is very much in our minds… it is all about planning and precision and execution. It is not improv. That's all I'll say.” – Janet [22:32]

• Every project encounters unexpected challenges:

  “There's always something that goes wrong.” – Janet [23:09]

7. Leadership and Collaboration

[24:12] – [25:24]

• Her leadership style: sharing vision, not micromanaging.

  “I share my internal goal… what I'm seeking is the lightest possible structure that will hold this up. And then suddenly my engineers will come up with three or four different… approaches. I try not to micromanage. Share the vision, trust, the talent and commitment and dedication of your team and then go there together.” – Janet [24:18]

8. The Role and Future of AI in Art

[25:39] – [28:31]

• Uses AI as a tool for generating creative options, not as a replacement:

  “If we could include the AI tool as one of those collaborators generating 100 options for all of us to look at together. That's where I see the future of AI being really promising.” – Janet [26:32]

• AI can’t replicate the human element:

  “I'm not at all afraid of it, you know, replacing me because I use self as instrument…” – Janet [27:16]

• Current AI-generated “Echelman sculptures” look plausible but are structurally impossible so far.

9. Bridging Art and Dance

[28:31] – [31:51]

• Collaboration with choreographer Rebecca Legere and innovative dance performances where sculpture and dancers move as one.

  “It's been really exciting to be designing sculptures that are themselves a dancer at a large scale and that dancers inhabit inside of them.” – Janet [29:11]

• The art-dance fusion also explores shared environmental responsibility: “It's not a dance of equals.”
• Performances blend classically trained dancers, circus artists, and interactive structures, traveling to US venues.

10. Honoring a Life Partner and Collaborator

[32:55] – [35:22]

• Remembering her late husband, David Feldman:

  “He's everywhere. He's in our thoughts every day. My colleagues and I were often, What would David do?... he had a saying, ‘You must be present to win.’” – Janet [33:08]

• Keeping his spirit alive with symbolic gestures, shared stories, and communal remembrance:

  “For me, that is what living on is, is when you are in people's thoughts and when your memory is a blessing. So he lives on. May we all be inspired by that energy and approach to life.” – Janet [35:07]

11. Advice for Emerging Artists and Leaders

[35:36] – [37:40]

• Central advice: “Don't start with compromise.”

  “What does it mean to take your own ideas seriously?… Give yourself a little breathing space to have the crazy idea… have a chance to kind of not compromise. Dream big… I realized that I was going to have the rest of my life to compromise.” – Janet [35:44–36:36]

• Live the life of an artist by actually making art, not waiting for permission or ideal circumstances.

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On emotional attunement in art: “I'm using myself as the instrument to feel… Where do I feel open and expansive? Where do I feel constricted and claustrophobic? What does this need?” – Janet [00:18]
• On finding voice in art: “It takes a long time to find one’s voice.” – Janet [07:37]
• On perseverance after rejection: “I was rejected by all seven [art schools]… that meant just go and live the life of an artist.” – Janet [10:50]
• On collaborating with engineers: “It’s a much more intimate and integrated process… It's this back and forth that each time, each iteration grows.” – Janet [15:16]
• Frank Gehry’s advice: “You should not adapt yourself to the tools that exist. You should develop them yourself…” [17:24]
• On overcoming installation challenges: “There's always something that goes wrong. So at that point there is some improv… Somehow it all happens.” – Janet [23:20]
• On her leadership style: “Share the vision, trust, the talent and commitment and dedication of your team and then go there together.” – Janet [24:49]
• On being replaced by AI: “I'm not at all afraid of it, you know, replacing me because I use self as instrument.” – Janet [27:16]
• On living fully: “You must be present to win.” – David Feldman, as quoted by Janet [33:14]
• On nurturing creativity: “Don’t start with compromise… give your imagination the fullest range before letting the critical brain go in…” – Janet [35:36]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Early approach & self as instrument: [00:00] – [01:15]
• Book and exhibition overview: [03:08] – [05:17]
• Childhood & Harvard journey: [05:44] – [09:18]
• Living in Bali & learning craft: [09:33] – [13:44]
• Computational design evolution: [14:03] – [17:02]
• Balancing improvisation and planning: [18:32] – [23:02]
• Collaboration and leadership: [24:12] – [25:24]
• AI in creative work: [25:39] – [28:31]
• Art-dance collaborations: [28:31] – [31:51]
• Honoring David Feldman’s legacy: [32:55] – [35:22]
• Advice to young artists: [35:36] – [37:40]

Conclusion

Janet Echelman’s story is one of embracing uncertainty, blending disciplines, and leading with emotional presence and collaborative vision. Her advice is to dream without compromise and trust in both intuition and experiment. Listeners are left with a sense of awe at the scale and depth of her work, and inspired to step boldly into their own forms of creative leadership.

For more information, visit echelman.com or follow Janet on Instagram @janetechelman.