This body of work challenges the suffocating boundaries that have been established between the fields of "fine art" and "craft" by working with drawing and sculpture in a variety of craft-based mediums. My background in painting and drawing combined with a challenging education in traditional metalsmithing and enameling led to an exploration in merging these seemingly unrelated art forms.
Conceptually, my work consists of images and sculptures that walk a fine line between the beautiful and the slightly grotesque. Sexuality, gender, and human relationships are subjects that often permeate my work. I reference the interior as well as the exterior of the human body as a way of reinforcing my ideas. I believe there is a tension surrounding attitudes about our bodies, which runs the gamut from admiration to disdain and my work reflects this aspect of the human condition.
Jessica Calderwood