Jocelyn Reid

Lives and works in Fayetteville, AR, USA

Artist statement

As reinventions of everyday items, my work highlights the extraordinary nature of the mundane. My research centers around the inanimate and often low-cost things that do work for us as humans. Childhood items, familiar structures, and ephemeral objects all hold weight, emotional or otherwise. I find interest in the translation of these objects into new materials: by re-creating them, I question where their value is generated or lost. The process of casting, which I use in all my work, contributes to these notions of worth. Porcelain and glaze, plaster, soap, silicones, and stone each have a specific material syntax. They speak of fragility, play, age, and human gestures. Intentional changes in form during the casting process suggest body language in the works, making them project buoyancy, exhaustion, tenderness, or frivolity. I eulogize and humanize these objects simply by the act of reproducing them. Through material metaphor and poetic movement, my sculptures define the banal yet remarkable rhythm of the everyday. I want to re-apply rules - rendering soft as hard, making sharp seem dull, and manifesting common as precious. In the work, I subvert the physical and psychological value of the object to reimagine our everyday trappings. I believe this attention to our surroundings and possessions is incredibly important. In a world that is constantly asking us to move faster, I experience attentiveness and care as a small rebellion. By creating these sculptures, I invite the...

Artwork