Touch

I chose to write about the artist named Jason Briggs. I’ve been looking at the work of Jason for the past two years, ever since he came and gave a presentation for my ceramics class and the Ann Arbor community. Never before had I seen sculptures like his, for me it was completely original. I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with Jason and see him working up close and personal. It was a valuable experience to be able to speak with a fresh face about my work, especially someone who knew nothing about my previous artwork.

Briggs is a contemporary artist living in Watertown, Tennessee and currently teaching at Belmont University in Nashville. His sculptures, shown below, are sexually charged, yet he is more concerned with the tactile nature of his work. I enjoy how his forms are mysterious and suggestive, between the folds, hairs, and holes one can get lost in his thought provoking works.

Briggs recalls his first experience viewing playboy and the inclination to touch the flesh and relates that to his viewer’s curiosity and desire to touch. He strives to “create an object that I’ve never quite seen before - one whose inherent mystery and intrigue quietly insists upon viewer interaction” (Briggs Artist Statement). Briggs wants the viewer to be intrigued enough to consider touching the work. I respond to how individual each of his pieces are, especially since most of them have to do with the same topic of exploration. I am able to look at the same form over and over again and still find unique protrusions and spherical balls popping out from nowhere. I am fascinated by his surface textures and question whether they are flesh or synthetic-like. The close attention to detail and the titles of his work (suggestive terms such as ‘squirt’, ‘pinch’ or crème’) come together and create tantalizing images for the mind.

His process begins with loose ideas of forms that he associates specific adjectives with and starts throwing multiple versions of those ideas. He plays around with them and eventually they come together to create one object. Briggs emphasizes that the forms “just happen”. He then starts to add surface textures and different motifs. He works on one piece for a pretty long time, up to a year or so I believe.

This is how I feel when I am creating my ceramic pieces. In many ways I have no real idea where my forms will end up because it is just as much about the process of making and experimenting as the final intentions. I like to see what’s working with the clay and what needs to be readjusted. I think about the qualities and characteristics of my inspirations while I sculpt.

Briggs doesn’t do much sketching (which I do) but his inspirations are coming from his personal environment, such as the fold of an elbow or the crease between a pair of lips. His vision is a reflection of an internal decision making process. I also approach my work by looking at objects in my natural surrounding and imagine these fantastical forms, or what I sometimes consider creatures that have never been seen before. Looking at the complex and intricate forms within nature is something that I have addressed multiple times before, but I would now like a little more direction and purpose with my thoughts.

The idea of touch is vital to Briggs but actual touch is important to me, whether it’s the physical touch of another person, or the touch while I’m creating a sculpture. This is something I realized when I went abroad and had no friends or people I could touch or simply give a hug. I struggled with the lack of human interaction. All I had was the sanity of my ceramics class where I could touch something that I was familiar with and knew how to manipulate. Touching and feeling the clay is as therapeutic for me as the next person, but there is something different about creating a piece and allowing your emotions to enter into it, and exist therein forever. I am able to look at work from my sophomore year and remember exactly how I was feeling by the manipulations and gestures of the material…

Now I am rambling, but I do really enjoy the work of Jason and Briggs and whenever I look at his work I am also inspired to create something that people have never seen before.