hi.

i’m Jason Briggs. I work with porcelain to create objects. “Art Objects”, if you must. it’s up to you to label them: Sculpture, Fine Art, Fine Craft, Ceramic Sculpture, Figurative, Abstract, Surrealist, Eroticism, non-traditional, biological, fucked-up, pornographic or, worst of all, Decorative.

Jason Briggs "Blush" (detail). porcelain, hair, and mixed media sculpture ceramics.

Jason Briggs "Picasso" (detail). porcelain, hair, and mixed media sculpture ceramics.

Jason Briggs "Olympia" (detail). porcelain, hair, and mixed media sculpture ceramics.

Jason Briggs "Paris" (detail). porcelain, hair, and mixed media sculpture ceramics.

Jason Briggs "Royal". porcelain, hair, and mixed media sculpture ceramics.

Jason Briggs "Misty" (detail). porcelain, hair, and mixed media sculpture ceramics.

Jason Briggs "Puff" (detail). porcelain, hair, and mixed media sculpture ceramics.

Slide

I can explain,

just…put down the weapon.

I KNOW…I know. it’s strange looking work. at first glance, maybe even ugly; it’s certainly not meant for everyone. but here’s the thing: I am trying to make complicated work. ugly and beautiful. refined and vulgar. hairy and smooth. lusty and unlovable. pull you in, push you away. sure, maybe a bit shocking, but mostly challenging. lovely yet …ew. what do we even call them? (I call them by their name. that’s Peel down there). the artist statement sums it up, but if you want to know how it all came to be… best to trace it’s evolution. I hope you appreciate the work, maybe even love it a little. but I understand if you don’t. like I said, not for everyone.

I KNOW…I know. it’s strange looking work. at first glance, maybe even ugly; it’s certainly not meant for everyone. but here’s the thing: I am trying to make complicated work. ugly and beautiful. refined and vulgar. hairy and smooth. lusty and unlovable. pull you in, push you away. sure, maybe a bit shocking, but mostly challenging. lovely yet …ew. what do we even call them? (I call them by their name. that’s Royal behind me). the artist statement sums it up, but if you want to know how it all came to be… best to trace it’s evolution. I hope you appreciate the work, maybe even love it a little. but I understand if you don’t. like I said, not for everyone.

Artist Statement

“The French say that the best part of an affair is going up the stairs. Desire is almost always more thrilling than fulfillment.”

-Tom Robbins

At 8 years old I saw my first Playboy spread. The nature of that experience — pure, primal, and singular — remains a catalyst. These were clearly magazine photos — flat images on semi-gloss stock — but my instinctive response was to embrace the nude; I held her page to my chest in a delusional bear hug. My imagination went haywire.

On one level, my work is part of an ongoing effort to document and expand upon that adolescent moment. 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. While manipulating porcelain, I recognize, and act upon, a profound desire to push, poke, squeeze, stroke, caress, and pinch. I intend for my pieces to invoke a similar sort of temptation: to dare the viewer to touch.

Or better yet, to imagine touching.