Posted in: Exhibitions
J. Fred Woell, Founding Fathers, 2006, Brooch. Photo by: Madeline Courtney. Used with permission.
J. Fred Woell is an artist, a teacher, a friend, a mentor. His life is characterized by serendipity and surprise, and his jewelry serves as expression for his interest and intellect, his wit and wisdom. While his nomadic existence instilled in him an overwhelming sense of insecurity, he continually overcomes this by fully expressing his thoughts, ideas, concerns, passions, and ideals into his conglomerate works of art.
He pieces together brooches, pendants, and sculptures with relics of American commercialism, tossed-out trash, and an arsenal of conventional and unconventional metal and sculpture techniques. He considers his art to be an extension of himself--a full expression of his unique humanity.
Thereby, each piece is infused with a healthy dose of goofy humor, an overarching appreciation for nature and the environment, and a sometimes irreverent stab of witty sarcasm. Always underlying each piece is the Boy Scouts credo: Leave things cleaner than you found them.
Considered among the first recognized jewelry artists to forge pieces for political and social commentary out of found objects, Mr. Woell is a master at transforming junk into art which is sometimes beautiful, always meaningful. His process is one of studied technique with a heavy dose of chance.
It wasn't always this way. Like most artists, he began as a student. He learned the techniques of the painter, the sculptor, the ceramicist, and the metalsmith. His early pieces were mapped out on paper, drawn to scale, and forged one section at a time according to a careful plan.
However, after finishing his second MFA, Mr. Woell "had come into gridlock" {cited}. By his own admission, he "had run out of ideas, really, because I had to plan everything..." {cited}. Throughout his time in school, he endeavored to forge a living out of his art. While this pursuit is typical for most and effective for some, Mr. Woell discovered that making pieces with the express purpose of pleasing someone else or staying abreast of trends left him feeling hollow, as did following a written plan.
It was when he finally abandoned the frustration of trying to bend a piece to his will that he began to realize the true meaning of art and creativity. After this turning point, his pieces took on greater depth of expression complete with acci-"dents", charred and bubbly surfaces, and surprising results. He soon became critically acclaimed in metal and jewelry circles, and his own philosophy of art and life became evident in every work he forged.
In his own words, "being creative is a risk-taking situation...you never know what a thing is like until it's done" {cited}. His take on art is parallel to his perspective on life: "Art, like life, is a challenge....It can't be predictably created from a linear didactic formula...It is, like life, more about being human, being vulnerable, being imperfect, and about things unexplainable...Art is about surprise, about the unexpected, about letting go and risking. It is about taking steps towards places where there may not be any footholds, and falling and failing" {cited}.
For an up-close look at J. Fred Woell's contemporary found-object brooches and pendants, we invite you to visit Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle, during their Signs of Life exhibition. On view through October 22, 2013, Signs of Life features the work of nine contemporary jewelry artists. A companion literary journal accompanies the show and features the work of nine writers inspired by pieces from the jewelry exhibit. For more information, click here. 11 years ago
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