Collection: Jessica Brandl - Featured Artist

Jessica Brandl is an American contemporary ceramics artist of Midwestern origins. She holds an MFA in Ceramics from The Ohio State University and a BFA in Ceramics and Art History from The Kansas City Art Institute. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including “Made for U.S.” hosted by Morean Center for Clay, “Grounded” hosted by Alberta University of the Arts in Alberta Canada, “Unconventional Clay: Engaged in Change”, NCECA Biennial invitational, hosted at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  In 2015 she was awarded NCECA’s international residency at c.r.e.t.a.r. Rome, and also received a McKnight Artist Fellowship from the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis Minnesota. Her most recent work investigates the vessel as canvas and sculptural diorama. 

Jessica resides in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she is an Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University.

Artist Statement:

My contributions in fired clay mark time spent thinking and considering the visual elements that represent western culture and American-ness. Utilization of the vanitas, the art historic method for representation that imbeds the transience of life, underscoring the temporariness of pleasure and the certainty of death; is an important counterpoint to the often bright and garish pull of logos and banal detritus that I utilize.

For me, the subsequent communion of clutter satisfies the sense of balance and duality in the world, capturing moments from life and preserving feelings that are complex and often informed by many simple interactions.

The research and visual characteristics that define my artwork grow from a sense of personal anxiety, viewing all objects as representative of future archeology. My incorporation of American popular culture defines familiar characteristics of home. To avoid autobiographical specificity, I began to understand myself and the culture I represented as a type, a data point, indicative of a social class. The intentional ambiguity present in the finished works is a declaration of social agency, not being the thing which I represent but also not completely divorced from its influence. For me it is important to deconstruct American culture symbols, seeking the intentions for which they were created and examining what biases or stereotypes they perpetuate. To understand what is loved or what is hated is equally an exercise in letting go and for me represents a desire for peace.

Find Jessica on artaxis at: https://artaxis.org/artist/jessica-brandl/

Find Jessica on Instagram at: @jessicabrandl

Proceeds from this sale support the artist, and Artaxis, a 501(c)3 non-profit art organization. Please contact us at contactartaxis@gmail.com if you would like to ship any of the work out of the US, or if you have any questions.