About Sculpties
One cold winter day, a piece in progress captured his very own studio selfie, and began a new trend: sculpties.
Hello! My name is Jocelyn Howard and I will graduate in May 2014 with an MFA in Ceramics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Interested in themes dealing with gender identity, sexuality, public vs private image, duality, and jungian psychology, I enjoy exploring these themes when creating ceramic figures in hopes to create a personal mythology.
When documenting my studio practice and sculptural process, I noticed that the expressions, postures, and characteristics of each figure I created lent itself to being documented in the same way a person would take a selfie. What started out as a humorous documentation of my work has evolved into an exploration that applies the act of crafting self-image through taking selfie shots to literal crafted objects.
When I think about duality, specifically the difference between public and private personas, the first thing that comes to mind is the way in which social media asks two things of us. On one hand, we want to keep in touch with friends and family, let our hair down, and share things that are deeply meaningful in our lives through venues such as facebook, twitter, tumblr, and instagram. On the other hand, we want to curate a professional image that will help further a career. Websites are good for establishing a solidly professional boundary around our public image. But sometimes the line between public image and private image is blurred when an online presence becomes a cocktail of website plus instagram, twitter, tumblr, and facebook.
When I spend time to painstakingly document my work, I am crafting a professional public image for that work. I set it carefully on a grey graduated backdrop, arrange lights to capture every detail, and spend time adjusting each setting on the camera to compose the perfect shot. However, when I create and build my figures, I feel that they take on a life of their own in the studio. They let their hair down. And so, I invite you to join me on this journey of documenting my work behind the scenes. I hope you enjoy getting to know each character when they aren’t posing for my portfolio or getting gussied up for that next show application. And, please feel free to use the submit link to submit your own sculpties!
For each piece’s pro shots, please check out: www.jocelynyhoward.com
