Bio
Jess Levin is a New York based ceramic sculpture artist. They received a BFA in Sculpture in 2022 from SUNY Purchase in Westchester, NY. They worked as an artist-in-residence at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York, from 2022-2024, and are currently an artist-in-residence at the Saratoga Clay Arts Center in Schuylerville, New York. They often juxtapose the cold and harsh nature ceramics typically carries with the soft and friendly connotation of fairies, mermaids, and other subjects found in the mind of a child. The playful and cartoonish characters they create bring to life a narrative of queer self-exploration and expression.
Artist Statement
“The feeling of wanting to be held, to be kept safe. Sitting in nostalgic fields of flowers, pretending to be a mermaid, or imagining a world full of fairies - my work explores escapism. The comfort we strive for without realizing we’re doing it. The complicated feelings of wanting to go home, but already being there. The yearn for a simpler life, to be as carefree as a child once again. The creatures I create are simple, yet melancholy. They have become less colorful and more pensive, transforming with me, their creator. They want to just exist.
The surfaces of my pieces are underglazed with illustrations that follow the contours of the vessels and sculptures they sit on. I use watered down deep black underglaze to build up layer by layer the paintings that sit on my pieces. I draw inspiration from botanicals, specifically dandelions, who grow in concrete cracks and through chain link fences. The fairies that live in my childhood home’s garden are my muses. All of the figures I depict are queer, intentionally so as seen through physical attributes such as top surgery scars on my mermaids and creatures, nestled in their meticulously textured and stamped bodies. My illustrations and sculptures are playful and stylized to draw the viewer in, inviting them to stay a while. Through my work, I want to evoke both joy and contemplativeness in those who view it.”
Technical and Process Stuff
I currently use a cone six brown stoneware to create most of my sculptures. I prefer a groggier clay body, as it keeps my sculptures resillient through out the process. My current favorites are Standard’s 153 and 112.
The majority of my pieces are finished with underglaze, and then dry brushed with either a clear glaze or a glossy white. My color pallet typically changes with the seasons. Pinks, oranges, and greens during the warmer months, and blues, purples, and yellows during the colder months. One thing that stays consistant, however, is that I always lean into more pastel hues. Unfortunately, these colors can be hard to come by so more often than not I will mix my pallet myself from preexisting colors. Some underglazes that I constantly find myself reaching for are Amaco’s Deep Yellow, Sea glass, and Blush.
I am a huge fan of experimenting, and creating a million test tiles to find the perfect glaze combination before using it on a “real” piece. For my functional ceramics, both hand built and wheel thrown, I enjoy piling on different colorful glazes (to varying degrees of success). My favorite blue and pink combination is Spectrum’s Blue Oyster Shino, Laguna’s Brilliant Sunburn, and Mayco’s Rose Quartz.
