My most recent series combines flower/botanical forms with fragments of the human body in order to address issues surrounding gender, domesticity, and identity. Inspired by a life lived in suburbia, I created these works to be intentionally humorous and ironic. These anthropomorphic beings are at once, powerful and powerless, beautiful and absurd, inflated, and amputated.
Jessica Calderwood is a sculptor and image-maker that works with a wide range of media. She is interested in using traditional crafts, both for their creative properties, as well as their historical references as ‘marginalized craft,’ including enamel, porcelain painting and fibers. Working through a variety of formats, including sculpture, wall work and jewelry, this recent body of work is meant to express frustrations and exaltations associated with identity as a female, as well as the nuances, and complexities of contemporary life.
Calderwood received her BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and her MFA from Arizona State University, with an emphasis Metalworking. Her work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and internationally in curated and juried exhibitions. Calderwood’s large-scale sculptures and enamels were recently featured in a solo exhibition at the Racine Art Museum, titled Fictitious Flora. She has participated in artist residencies with the John Michael Kohler Arts/Industry Program, Ferro Corporation, and the Mesa Arts Center. Her work has also been published in Metalsmith Magazine, American Craft, NICHE, Ornament, the Lark 500 series, and the Art of Enameling. She is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Ball State University.
Jessica Calderwood
Material Matters
July 17-August 4, 2018