See an Exhibition
Solo Exhibition
Jessica Broad
June 4-18, 2011
Artist Statement
My current body of work revolves around a fascination with the microscopic, with the fragility of life, and the beauty found in parts of nature we tend to ignore. Through my family I have inherited interests in algology and mycology. I grew up exploring the seashores and forests of New England. I would spend hours studying the life in tide pools, or a tiny ecosystem with ferns, toads and fungi on the forest floor. These early predilections have translated themselves into my present interest in representing the unseen, uncelebrated world of microscopic life—the life that, while tiny and ephemeral, supports all other life on Earth.
I use painting, drawing, and printmaking to apply scientific images to delicate porcelain pieces. I use the fragility of the porcelain as a stand-in for the fragility of the organisms I am representing. I tend to compose my work using small-scale elements to make up a larger-scale installation or freestanding sculpture.
