2014 Best of Show:
Jason H. Green, Recovered Geometries
OLEAN PUBLIC LIBRARY GALLERY | NOVEMBER 1- DECEMBER 27
In 2013, Jason Green was named the Best of Show winner of the Southern Tier Biennial. Eighty-seven artists entered more than 256 pieces of work for the juried competition. Green’s work was chosen from the 38 accepted artists by two prestigious members of the Western New York art community: Kate Koperski, Director of the Castellani Art Museum, and John Vanco, Director and Curator at the Erie Art Museum.
____________________________________________________________________Statement from Jason H. Green
My current work evolved from my experience as a builder, renovator and maker of temporary architectural installations that were lined with decorative unfired clay surfaces. I am interested in remnants, the evidence of what once was and the fluctuating relationships between physical space, the body, time and memory. My work questions, investigates and aims to reveal ideas dealing with perception, decoration, decay, construction and reconstruction. My investigation of art, architecture and ceramics has continued to expand during travel to China, Mexico, Paris, Rome, Naples and Tuscany. My work is informed by themes, ideas and motifs that are shared between different cultures and different time periods.
My work calls attention to the "fluxing character of immediacy, presence and perception while alluding to the past. The digital tools I use to design forms and surfaces are combined with processes that are adapted from traditional methods of hand-making. The forms I make are created by handpressing clay into molds made from plaster and wood. The adaptable systems I use invite structured improvisation into the process. The modular mold-making systems result in reconfigurable elements and share the intrinsic geometry that can be found in nature. The geometry of my arrangements is tempered by the fluid characteristics of glazed surfaces that evolve during multiple applications and firings. Some works use fields of modular units that suggest the vastness of landscape and the results of weather and erosion. These pieces also reveal the similarity of structure found on the micro and macro scale.
My most recent series are titled “Persistence of Illusion” and “Recovered Geometries”. The work is these series investigates how optical illusions may alter our perception as being more or less real. Sometimes viewed as a sort of trickery, optical illusions can change our sense of perception and influence our understanding of an object. As surfaces optically waver between dimensional projection and recession, the physical properties of the object are simultaneously undermined and reinforced. As the work changes our immediate perception of space and presence it evokes thought of permanence and impermanence.
Often, my work stands as a suggestive fragment that aims to remind viewers of more intimate personal and architectural spaces. Decorative patterns lifted from history recall how layers build up over time, each having given a contribution to the memory and story of the space. The overlapping of patterned and transparent layers on my work both hides and reveals form while also suggesting the effects of environment, time and erosion on historic surfaces. My work and process embrace the polarities of interior and exterior, fluid and static, fragment and whole, new and old. These polarities are amplified by a vocabulary of form, color, texture and pattern that is familiar - but in a new combination. The work prompts attention to our own sense of perception and to the immediate and extended environment while cultivating relationships between geologic and personal measurements of time.
Exhibition Introduction by Tina Hastings
As the new Executive Director of the Cattaraugus County Arts Council, it is my pleasure to write the introduction for the 2014 Southern Tier Biennial Solo Show by Jason Green, “Recovered Geometries”. In his work I see complicated patterns; layer upon layer draws you in and holds your attention until your gaze shifts to another layer that often appears in contrast to the first. Often these visual shifts can be disconcerting as each new layer introduces depth and dimension. Each piece consists of individual tiles, uniform in size and shape but each with unique surface detail. When the tiles are hung in the correct sequence they complete each larger work. The effect is mesmerizing. Green’s work clearly has a foundation in architecture; lines, shapes, and motifs will be familiar to many, evoking the memory of architecture encountered in the past. Layers of color and pattern are applied to handbuilt terra cotta tiles; literal building blocks that work together to form a greater whole. Optical illusion is an integral component of Green’s work as the eye is pulled into the dimensional stacked cubes. Subtle, organic colors shift from light to dark as they pool across the surface, pulling these disparate shapes, patterns, and layers together into a cohesive vision. The skill with which the color is applied enhances the optical illusion and the work is transformed by the play of light on the surface of each tile. These works of
art are truly meant to be viewed in person. In 2013, Green was named the Best of Show winner of the Southern Tier Biennial. Last year, 87 artists entered more than 256 pieces of work for the juried competition. Green’s work was chosen from the 38 accepted artists by two prestigious members of the Western New York art community: Kate Koperski, Director of the Castellani Art Museum, and John Vanco, Director and Curator at the Erie Art Museum. I hope that you will be inspired by the catalog to take the opportunity to visit “Recovered Geometries” while it is on view at the Olean Public Library.
Tina Hastings
Executive Director
Cattaraugus County Arts Council
___________________________________________
Jason H. Green, Recovered Geometries
OLEAN PUBLIC LIBRARY GALLERY | NOVEMBER 1- DECEMBER 27
In 2013, Jason Green was named the Best of Show winner of the Southern Tier Biennial. Eighty-seven artists entered more than 256 pieces of work for the juried competition. Green’s work was chosen from the 38 accepted artists by two prestigious members of the Western New York art community: Kate Koperski, Director of the Castellani Art Museum, and John Vanco, Director and Curator at the Erie Art Museum.
____________________________________________________________________Statement from Jason H. Green
My current work evolved from my experience as a builder, renovator and maker of temporary architectural installations that were lined with decorative unfired clay surfaces. I am interested in remnants, the evidence of what once was and the fluctuating relationships between physical space, the body, time and memory. My work questions, investigates and aims to reveal ideas dealing with perception, decoration, decay, construction and reconstruction. My investigation of art, architecture and ceramics has continued to expand during travel to China, Mexico, Paris, Rome, Naples and Tuscany. My work is informed by themes, ideas and motifs that are shared between different cultures and different time periods.
My work calls attention to the "fluxing character of immediacy, presence and perception while alluding to the past. The digital tools I use to design forms and surfaces are combined with processes that are adapted from traditional methods of hand-making. The forms I make are created by handpressing clay into molds made from plaster and wood. The adaptable systems I use invite structured improvisation into the process. The modular mold-making systems result in reconfigurable elements and share the intrinsic geometry that can be found in nature. The geometry of my arrangements is tempered by the fluid characteristics of glazed surfaces that evolve during multiple applications and firings. Some works use fields of modular units that suggest the vastness of landscape and the results of weather and erosion. These pieces also reveal the similarity of structure found on the micro and macro scale.
My most recent series are titled “Persistence of Illusion” and “Recovered Geometries”. The work is these series investigates how optical illusions may alter our perception as being more or less real. Sometimes viewed as a sort of trickery, optical illusions can change our sense of perception and influence our understanding of an object. As surfaces optically waver between dimensional projection and recession, the physical properties of the object are simultaneously undermined and reinforced. As the work changes our immediate perception of space and presence it evokes thought of permanence and impermanence.
Often, my work stands as a suggestive fragment that aims to remind viewers of more intimate personal and architectural spaces. Decorative patterns lifted from history recall how layers build up over time, each having given a contribution to the memory and story of the space. The overlapping of patterned and transparent layers on my work both hides and reveals form while also suggesting the effects of environment, time and erosion on historic surfaces. My work and process embrace the polarities of interior and exterior, fluid and static, fragment and whole, new and old. These polarities are amplified by a vocabulary of form, color, texture and pattern that is familiar - but in a new combination. The work prompts attention to our own sense of perception and to the immediate and extended environment while cultivating relationships between geologic and personal measurements of time.
Exhibition Introduction by Tina Hastings
As the new Executive Director of the Cattaraugus County Arts Council, it is my pleasure to write the introduction for the 2014 Southern Tier Biennial Solo Show by Jason Green, “Recovered Geometries”. In his work I see complicated patterns; layer upon layer draws you in and holds your attention until your gaze shifts to another layer that often appears in contrast to the first. Often these visual shifts can be disconcerting as each new layer introduces depth and dimension. Each piece consists of individual tiles, uniform in size and shape but each with unique surface detail. When the tiles are hung in the correct sequence they complete each larger work. The effect is mesmerizing. Green’s work clearly has a foundation in architecture; lines, shapes, and motifs will be familiar to many, evoking the memory of architecture encountered in the past. Layers of color and pattern are applied to handbuilt terra cotta tiles; literal building blocks that work together to form a greater whole. Optical illusion is an integral component of Green’s work as the eye is pulled into the dimensional stacked cubes. Subtle, organic colors shift from light to dark as they pool across the surface, pulling these disparate shapes, patterns, and layers together into a cohesive vision. The skill with which the color is applied enhances the optical illusion and the work is transformed by the play of light on the surface of each tile. These works of
art are truly meant to be viewed in person. In 2013, Green was named the Best of Show winner of the Southern Tier Biennial. Last year, 87 artists entered more than 256 pieces of work for the juried competition. Green’s work was chosen from the 38 accepted artists by two prestigious members of the Western New York art community: Kate Koperski, Director of the Castellani Art Museum, and John Vanco, Director and Curator at the Erie Art Museum. I hope that you will be inspired by the catalog to take the opportunity to visit “Recovered Geometries” while it is on view at the Olean Public Library.
Tina Hastings
Executive Director
Cattaraugus County Arts Council
___________________________________________