Bio

Jess Smith is a Grand Junction, Colorado based artist who is graduating from Colorado Mesa University in 2017 with a BFA in Studio Arts. He started with painting and drawing from a young age, but two years into college he discovered that he enjoyed sculpture more. Sculpture provided him with the opportunities to try new techniques and to learn various forms of mold making. The ability to experiment with untried techniques has led him to new discoveries within the realm of sculpture, as well as within his work in general.

Smith has participated in various iron pours and other metal casting pours, including the 2nd Annual Crested Butte Community Iron Pour. He enjoys the metal casting area of sculpture the most because of the teamwork involved, as well as the unpredictability of innovative methods used to make molds for casting.

Currently, Smith has a rotating display of his work at Uncanny Valley Art Gallery in Grand Junction, Colorado and works part time in his home studio, exploring both old and new techniques.

Artist Statement

Experimentation and the results that come with it are imperative to my work. Ultimately, my work shows growth, change, and becoming something new not only with the end results, but also through the actual process of creating each piece. Much of my art starts with a general idea or a new technique and I don’t always know what the end result will look like. By focusing on the process itself, I am able to be more creative and flexible in the outcomes. Often, my original intentions for a piece changes because something unexpected happens during the stages of mold making or metal casting. Once a piece is finished, I take the final form and create other pieces that begin to tell a story within that particular series. The additional pieces that I create may also change along the way, but that is simply part of my creative process. Through this process of exploration and the unexpected, I continue to gain new knowledge of the materials I work with. My act of creating these pieces, as well as the final works, represents life in that we must change and react to circumstances outside of ourselves.