My sculptures, like people, are products of their environment. I’m often asked what inspires me or influences my work. Frequently, it’s not until well after a piece has been completed that I understand the finer points of what motivated me.
Similarly, in our environment we are rarely aware of the importance of what may seem like insignificant elements. Yet when one of these elements is missing, or added, it can have dramatic effects on our lives. For example, a number of years ago while driving along the Emeryville shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, I realized that the sculptures in the wetlands were gone! I had known for years that they were no longer permitted but it wasn’t until that moment that I became aware of how much I missed them.
When I was growing up, the sculptures in Emeryville were an everyday part of my life. I wasn’t aware of the depth of their impact on me until they were absent, but exactly how they influenced me I will probably never completely appreciate. Likewise, I can ask how the daily news, two cups of coffee, the barking dog, the obnoxious neighbors (since remedied) or my daughters’ stunning smiles influence my work. I simply don’t have the ability to verbally elaborate on their impact. Therefore I have developed a three dimensional vocabulary that I employ in my work.
I look at my daughters and yearn for them to live in a world where people of differing opinions will work cooperatively. I reflect this hope in sculpture by weaving opposing lines, materials and textures in symbiotic accord.
Perhaps I will want to have a whimsical flight over a marble landscape. I will use a method of stone carving called direct sculpture where I work with the marble or other subtractive material and let it guide me. Then, I might imagine I can fly over and through the terrain I’ve discovered. It’s usually during a direct sculpture that I will see new ways of expressing an emotion or concept. This is only one of the methods I use to continue expanding my vocabulary.
Most of all, my work is about learning. My art (verb) is the best attempt I can make at drawing sense from this whirlwind life. It is my intent, desire and dream to keep learning for a very long time.
Title: Choices
College of the Siskiyous
Weed, California
With Patrick Dougherty when serving as principal assistant/museum liaison on
The Lookout Tree https://medium.com/@PAPress/lookout-tree-21676db1a5c6
See more of Patrick’s work at: http://www.stickwork.net/
Jack with Buster Simpson http://www.bustersimpson.net/monolith/ when serving as principal assistant.
Mount Shasta Community Peace Mural
Lead sculptor under the direction of Jenny Johnson with scores of volunteers
Mount Shasta Community Peace Mural detail – Hand in progress
Jack’s mentor Sharon Spencer http://www.sharonspencer.com/ with her sculpture Nammu