Sculptures
Artist’s Statement
My work, as expressed in bronze, wood, stone, steel, ferro-cement, custom luxury gardens, or photography and film represents a fifty-year evolving expression.
The sculptures shown here are a selection from this search, which attempt to connect us with the “unseen forces”. I use this term for what can alternatively be called Nature, The Divine, Gaia, or any of the many non-visible forces of nature science presents.
It may be one of our most beautiful aspirations, to seek ways of revealing that which we can not fully comprehend or adequately express.
Jay Markel
Billboard Series
I made my first two billboard maquettes in 1982. They positioned rocks (what would be large boulders at full scale) into wooden structures that visually referenced houses.
These non-commercial billboards literally housed rocks as an environmental statement. In 2019 I returned to studio sculpture after focusing on gardens and two patents for 25 years. The concept was expanded from our need to protect the environment to how we might reimagine our relationship with Gaia. Environmental awareness, connecting people to the earth, has been the foundation of my work since 1975.
As the billboards evolved they maintained a frontal plane, but the space behind that plane became a floating garden. These are imagined on the scale of an urban plaza. With a garden on the ground, and one floating above, it symbolizes of the phrase, “as above, so below”.
About the Artist
JAY MARKEL began as a sculptor. Over the years maquettes and large sculptures evolved into gardens. “Landscape architecture expresses sculpture as an environmental space …rather than an object-oriented construct.”
Already an established artist, Jay embarked on a five-year working apprenticeship with Zen Buddhist monk Martin Mosco, of Marpa and Associates, and feels grateful for the opportunities and teachings he received there.
Jay’s sculptures can be found in several noteworthy collections both in the United States and in France. He has frequently taught, lectured, and served as a visiting artist. His work reflects a profound connection to the living earth and he has embraced environmental stewardship throughout his career.
