Page 54 - WTP Vol. XI #3

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“The main emphasis of my artwork is to recreate the grandeur and
complexity of natural structures.
Understanding the physicality and how form and function are intertwined in nature is the philosophical foundation from which all of my sculptures are created. I want to know how things are built and not just what they look like.
“Most of my work is breaded with oatmeal—the oatmeal, along with sand and plaster, gives my work a textural quality not seen in other works of sculpture. The oatmeal also acts as a sponge that soaks up the various dyes. This gives my work a strange vibrancy and natural blending of tones. And many of my organ- ic-looking sculptures are created through a method of layering. This is similar to the way rings are formed on a tree, the differ- ence being that my sculptures grow vertically from a ‘genetic blueprint,’ as opposed to trees which grow outward from an inner ring. Fire also plays a large role in some of my work. I use fire to create spontaneous and organic shapes. This helps keep my work from becoming too formulaic or geometric in form.”
JoNah JaCobS