Jake Webster, Sculptor

I was trained as a painter and art educator. In the spring of 1974, I became a sculptor “standing in the marble quarry of Pietrasanta, Italy”. For it was at that moment I realized the making of art is more about feeling than seeing. The making of art is just as much about being as doing.

Although “art for art’s sake” may be real for some, “art for art’s sake” has no meaning for me.

To me
Art is passion – “To Do”
Art is compassion – “To Share”
Art is Science – “To Explore”
Art is strength – “To Build”
Art is exhibition – “To Be Seen”

To be seen is to work – to work – to work

Selecting wood and stone for my medium, frees me from my academic training but not of the discipline. It is pleasingly shocking when the world in which I live is mirrored back before us to see, to touch, to smell, to feel in three-dimensional form.

My art is very symbolic; it deals with the humanistic quality of every man:
His bravery
           His pain
                  His joys
                        His sadness
                                His happiness
                                    His loneliness
                                           His love
                                                  His insensitivity to his fellowmen

“I used simple tools to cut simple shapes to make a simple statement about a simple world we have made more complex”

- Jake Webster


© Jake Webster 2006 • 114 W Jefferson St. Elkhart IN Jake's homepage