Artist’s Statement

I am becoming increasingly aware of the interconnectedness of all things: bird and wind, eye and shadow, breath and bone. Nature is one breathing entity. Each sculpture I make is like a single breath, containing enough interplay of elements to convey some of the essence of the whole. When creating a piece, I attempt to capture some of the visual music I see around me, composing a harmony of natural and human design. Although every component is carefully chosen with symbolic references, each piece is not a puzzle to be solved or a message to be deciphered, but a breath to be inhaled.

I begin by welding a thin skeleton of carbon steel. I overlay this with a hand-stitched fiber substrate.   Numerous layers of sprayed or hand applied paper pulp, often interspersed with organic materials, imbue each piece with a life of its own. The fascinating chemistry of paper forges the elements together without the use of foreign chemicals or glue.

Bio

My unique method of sculpting with sprayed paper pulp is described in Volume 13, No.2 of HAND PAPERMAKING and in THE PAPERMAKER’S COMPANION (©2000 by Helen Heibert). My awards include 2011 & 2014 Niche Awards from the Buyer’s Market of American Craft., and a 2006 SAC Award at Boston’s Society of Arts & Crafts. Several of my pieces are pictured in the book 500 PAPER OBJECTS (Lark/2013), in Contemporary Cape Cod Artists: On Abstraction (Forman/Schiffer/2015), in the Fall 2015 issue of Fiber Art Now, and in Artistry in Fiber, Volume 2: Sculpture (Summer 2017). My work has been exhibited nationally. You can see more of my work at www.artbyjus.com.