Jason Briggs
Biography
From http://www.jason-briggs.com/
"Though my objects contain strong visual references, I am more interested in the implied tactile ones: the things that stir in me a compulsion to touch. Beyond other external inspiration lies this basic, primal impulse. I recognizeand act upona profound desire to push, poke, squeeze, stroke, caress, and pinch. I intend for my pieces to invoke a similar sort of temptation. Obvious sexual references, along with an extravagant, fetish-like attention to surface, can arouse a yearning to touch as powerful as the act itself. In this way a parallel can be drawn with pornographymy first encounter with Playboy, for example. My emotional response, utter fascination, depended on the compelling desire to touch flesh. The fact that I couldn't was overcome by my imagined participation. When one views pornography, I would argue that one is thinking about touching about how it would feel. I want my work to elicit a similar response: 'What if I could touch it?'
"I am searching for a fresh perspective. I strive to create an object I've never quite seen beforeone whose inherent mystery and intrigue quietly insists upon viewer interaction. An object begging to be explored and examined in much the same way a child investigates the world: with wonder, curiosity, and also trepidation. It's very important that the work be challenging. A sense of unease is critical because it encourages the viewer to consider carefully what they are seeingat what is compelling them. I would like my work not to exist as the ubiquitous 'art object,' but as something more enigmaticforeign yet familiar, handmade yet somehow organic. Rather than suggest nature, in my own way I am seeking to create it.
"See. And I didn't say 'visceral' once."
Jason Briggs earned his MFA in Ceramics from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his BFA in Ceramics from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He has shown at Tennessee Arts Commission, Nashville; Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City; Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe; Herron Gallery, IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN; and Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX, among others.
