Jessica Harvey

Tip of the Tongue 2019. Wood, wire. 7″x3″x3″.

What does it mean to be human? Can I capture humanness in a simple singular movement? I am curious how the human body works and its complex relationship to oneself.

Being Held. 2021. Encaustic, wood, thread, graphite. 6″x6″

Balance. Wood, wax, string. 2018. 9″x18″’12”.

I explore gestures as nonverbal communication and a way to directly connect the viewer with what they see before them. Actions my sculptures do are things that the viewer has also done. This brings a self awareness to their own bodies. I can’t help but to curl my own tongue inside of my mouth as I pull on the handle that connects to the wooden tongue on a shelf that I am manipulating as it also curls. We are our gestures and this is how we communicate with others and the world.

Communicating With Others. 2018. Wood, wire, springs, string.

Figures. 2020. Book of graphite figure drawings, plexi glass, thread. 7″x9″x1.5″.

Being Held. 2021. Encaustic on wood, carved wood, thread. 6″x6″

Interactivity as a medium produces meaning and in my work both the viewer and the machine work together in dialogue in order to produce the art. If the viewer is the one making the object move they have a hand in the meaning of the piece. The way the sculpture is moved changes the meaning of the piece. I find that the movement made often reflects the viewer.

Puppeted by Puppet. Bronze, wood, metal rod, string. 2018. 5″x10″x7″.

Two Old Men. 2017. Wood, motor, metal rod. 18″x5’x18″.

Carving wood connects me with the material that was once alive as I bring it back to life into human forms that allows me to explore communication between sculptures and viewer.