Jesse Horton
Diversity in life is what makes Jesse thrive. He has lived in over five countries, swum with the most massive creatures on the planet, and tries to push his personal limits every day in new ways. The experiences gained over the years are what he puts into his creation. Sculpture, photography, film, and illustration are a few of the ways to acheive this. Trying to share what he feels are important issues and beautiful perspectives are his motivation for creation.
So here is what is latest and greatest around the studio. A 6" beaver. Its title is "Got a Leak?". Its pretty self explanatory. As it turns you can see (I HOPE) how I have tried to get your eye to jump, roll, and slide along the pieces features. You go from the face, to th branch in his hand, around to his tail, which kicks you towards his feet and right hand, then back to his face...... Thats the idea at least.
IMG 2009 from Jesse Horton on Vimeo.
So "On The Rocks" is finally coming together. I have reworked the hands, face, and hands, and face, and on and on..... It is close and I am starting to get the feeling I want from the piece. Here is an updated photo from inside the gallery in Beaver Creek, Co.
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Last night I sat down and started to really study the facial features. Most of the faces i have done are smaller, and the details can be hidden, by, um, the details..... So in a effort to improve, I have been working on a few new things, and studying the anatomy more on a larger scale. This old man came out of the clay quite quickly. I think he was always there.
Anyone who knows the Horton family knows how passionate we are about our planet. The concept that you take care of what has been given to you was instilled in my brother and I from a young age by my father and mother. Learning to appreciate those gifts as something to be looked after has shaped much of my brother's, and my own careers. It seems that we have always been drawn to the wild places on earth. either to adventure, film, photograph or just enjoy. I dont think we ever had much of a choice in whether we would care for our planet or not.
Art and the environment often cross paths. Animals, landscapes and humans interaction with them have dominated much of art for centuries. But one of the aims of the artist is to create something new. Something that will give people a different perspective on life. Something which i like to think "matters".
Climate change as we are so well aware is a controversial topic. Does it "exist"? Is it natural? Is it man made? Is it just made up? The debates go around and around. In my wanderings, I have come to blame the "lack of evidence" on the fact that differential equations and our technological inability to properly monitor every ounce of atmospheric change deem "scientific evidence" practically impossible. If that sounds complicated, it should. Few mathematicians can understand differential equations well enough, much less apply them to our atmosphere appropriately enough, to give us an understanding of whether climate change is occurring or not. The whole issue is simply frustrating to me. Perhaps what is most frustrating though, is our approach as human beings.
I have resolved in my mind to approach our environmental issues from a human standpoint and not a scientific one. Why, because it is no longer a scientific problem. We know we pollute. We know we over fish. In the Western world we over spend, over buy, we over everything. If we rely on science to tell us that we are destroying the planet, we have lost one of the very things that makes us human. A moral code. Not that everyone needs the same moral code. We all have the ability to make decisions and see whether we do harm or do good. That lets us learn, grow, change, and evolve into adults. At the end of the day though, we know whether we have had a positive effect or not. That is what seems to missing from our "science". The ablitiy to feel and make a decision NOW that maybe we should recycle. Walk more. Smile more. Be responsible.
This polar bear is sitting on an ice berg. He is balanced precariously as it melts away. The body language says help. It is a reminder of our own individual ability to help everyone else on our planet. Especially the non humans.
As I develop my skills as a sculptor I really try to repeat my successes. It is easy to make a nose look like a nose after you try 1000 times. But to repeatedly acheive the likeness of a nose after a few repeated attempts is much more difficult. Thats one of the reasons the current project I am working on has so much meaning for me. It is a challange to myself to not just create a single good piece, but to repeat that success. To repeat it in different scenes, and individual pieces. I want the style and theme to be consistant, and show I havent just created an accident.They are all depictions of late 1800's era fisherman across the United States. Winslow Homers paintings have always been a fixture around my family, and his paintings are some of the inspiration behind my pieces. His impressionistic style is something I have tried to capture in the texture of the clay.
"Dawn Breaker" is the first Piece of the series, and depicts a herring Fisherman working his net. The exaustion, but also the determination he works with come across in the face of the fisherman. It is one of my favorite pieces so far. It is at the foundry now and the first bronze one shuld be out soon.
Next I have a good start with "On The Rocks". A birch bark canoe precariously positioned between the rocks, at the moment of either netting or loosing a wild fish, has the fly fishermans complete attention. Little room for error has created an intense situation, where the fisherman has everything to gain or loose in an instant.
The Third piece hasnt quite hit the sculpting board yet. When it does, It will be posted here! You can see more pictures of the project HERE.