by Sherrye Wyatt
Jan Hoy
http://www.sculpture.jhoydesign.com/
jan@jhoydesign.com
631 Olympic View Drive
Coupeville, WA 98239
What type of art? What medium? How is it classified? Abstract sculpture – the medium is bronze or fired clay.
How long have you been an artist? 40 years
Artist’s Statement: My artistic intent is to create imagery that draws on the best I have to offer. I work to make art that the eye and hand can linger on and draws the viewer to take it in in a sumptuous and inclusive manner. My work plays with organic forms that come together - and in the space where they meet they create a hard-edged linear element. I feel that something interesting occurs where the organic and the hard-edged areas meet.
I try to create works that are a complete statement unto themselves - the shape feels whole and tells its own story independent of its environment. It is the simplicity of these forms that appeals to me. Many times they begin as more complex statements and I have to “take away” until there is an essence left that is actually stronger than its more complicated beginnings.
I originally create the pieces in water-based clay which gives me the ease of working in a malleable substance. I enjoy that once it is cast in bronze it still has the original sense of malleability, but as though it has been captured in time.
What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork? I think the simplicity of the form and the surface treatment, both with the bronze and with the fired clay. The bronze was originally created in water-based clay giving it a textured surface and is finished with a traditional patina. The fired clay is treated with a patina – either blue or green to give it a bronze-like finish.
Why do you create? What are you passionate about? I create to express and bring into existence something that I can not find otherwise. I find the process fascinating and the end result rewarding to my senses.
What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows? I’m currently working on a series of fired clay pieces and two new bronze sculptures. I have been offered two shows in the next calendar year, one at the Fetherston Gallery in Seattle, and the other at the Lucia Douglas Gallery in Bellingham.
What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)? I will be working in clay to create several new works. They are built by the slab process and other techniques.
Choose a piece that you will have for sale on the OST and describe why you created it, your feelings when you created it, and the process you went through. I will have a piece called “Duplicity” for sale at the OST. It is an abstract bronze sculpture that gave me more headaches trying to decide on a finish than any other piece. It is a very organic sculpture that doesn’t call for a shiny patina- as most bronze patinas have a sheen. So, rather than finish it in a traditional patina, I used a more mottled, stone-like patina with a matt coating to keep the effect dull.
http://www.sculpture.jhoydesign.com/
jan@jhoydesign.com
631 Olympic View Drive
Coupeville, WA 98239
What type of art? What medium? How is it classified? Abstract sculpture – the medium is bronze or fired clay.
How long have you been an artist? 40 years
Artist’s Statement: My artistic intent is to create imagery that draws on the best I have to offer. I work to make art that the eye and hand can linger on and draws the viewer to take it in in a sumptuous and inclusive manner. My work plays with organic forms that come together - and in the space where they meet they create a hard-edged linear element. I feel that something interesting occurs where the organic and the hard-edged areas meet.
I try to create works that are a complete statement unto themselves - the shape feels whole and tells its own story independent of its environment. It is the simplicity of these forms that appeals to me. Many times they begin as more complex statements and I have to “take away” until there is an essence left that is actually stronger than its more complicated beginnings.
I originally create the pieces in water-based clay which gives me the ease of working in a malleable substance. I enjoy that once it is cast in bronze it still has the original sense of malleability, but as though it has been captured in time.
What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork? I think the simplicity of the form and the surface treatment, both with the bronze and with the fired clay. The bronze was originally created in water-based clay giving it a textured surface and is finished with a traditional patina. The fired clay is treated with a patina – either blue or green to give it a bronze-like finish.
Why do you create? What are you passionate about? I create to express and bring into existence something that I can not find otherwise. I find the process fascinating and the end result rewarding to my senses.
What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows? I’m currently working on a series of fired clay pieces and two new bronze sculptures. I have been offered two shows in the next calendar year, one at the Fetherston Gallery in Seattle, and the other at the Lucia Douglas Gallery in Bellingham.
What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)? I will be working in clay to create several new works. They are built by the slab process and other techniques.
Choose a piece that you will have for sale on the OST and describe why you created it, your feelings when you created it, and the process you went through. I will have a piece called “Duplicity” for sale at the OST. It is an abstract bronze sculpture that gave me more headaches trying to decide on a finish than any other piece. It is a very organic sculpture that doesn’t call for a shiny patina- as most bronze patinas have a sheen. So, rather than finish it in a traditional patina, I used a more mottled, stone-like patina with a matt coating to keep the effect dull.
