what comes next...

The first of a series, The Wig Project, which will be over-sized wigs inspired by the child's play of dress-up. I love the potential of the performative here.

I am interested in the work by Jessie Vogel who I gather is currently in gradate school. I feel like the work on her site shows this moment in ones career. I feel a little confused by her work as there seems to be lacking a cohesion from one piece or series to another and I personally like to be able to see the connections from series to series. But when I realized that she is in graduate school I got excited, to me this a time when many artists, including myself, really are forced to find their voice and solidify who they want to be as an artist.

detail shot of installation.

Jessie's work has an incredibly powerful use of texture and often color. She also is obviously not afraid to take some risks and combine materials and mediums. I think putting all of this together in a cohesive voice has the potential to be great. To me this is what a good graduate school should do for you. So I am excited to see what comes next for Jessie.


I love her use of sculptural materials with the softness of fibers and her work titled Pretty/Baby Sister is by far one of my favorites on her site.


She states this on her website:

The inspiration for most of my work comes from my love of textures and the tactile abilities of various mediums. I like using the sense of touch or relating to it, to harness memories and emotions that are personal and fundamental. Memories of loss, feelings of loneliness, and pure frivolity are three of my favorite themes to work into my concepts. I find that the human condition often combines dark emotions with surprisingly light and comical ways in which to express them. The same is true for one of my favorite art forms, folklore. I am fascinated by the way children’s stories and other lore can be surprisingly dark and foreboding but we are left with light and fantastical memories of them...

Making me think a little a la Kimberly Hart but also some Annette Messeger vibe.

I like her series that is essentially sculptural clothing, she paints fabric with oil paint.


For me, these act as an interesting take on a portrait and have a lot of potential as an idea.


She has also made some interesting paintings with fiber.

See more of Jessie's work here. I have a feeling her thesis show is going to be one to see.