Santa Fe-based artist Jarrett West creates large-scale ceramic stonework sculptures that evoke the drama of nature and the organic architecture of New Mexico.
Born in Santa Fe in 1964, sculptor Jarrett West is a self-described “country kid” who spent his youth on a cattle ranch in Eastern Wyoming and a farm in Teton Valley, Idaho. A high school ceramics class engaged him.
During summer visits to Santa Fe, West marveled at the art community. He apprenticed with a handful of instrumental local pottery and ceramics masters. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without them,” he says.
At the time, the minimalist Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi was very influential. “To explain my work, I have to credit Asian philosophy.”
But this doesn’t explain the scale of West’s high-fired ceramic stoneware sculptures, which can top ten feet in height and weigh hundreds of pounds, requiring hoists and other techniques to create and install these abstract forms. “A big part of this work relates to what we love about New Mexico—adobe homes,” he says, of which he’s built no fewer than ten.
While West’s works suggest architecture, they are not representational. He ensconces these forms in the outdoors to invite a collaboration, similar to the interplay between an adobe home and a surrounding canyon. “The collaboration with nature is critical because the work is so minimal. That’s the Asian influence. The drama of nature—shadows, sunset, or rain—enhances it,” he reflects.
Part of that collaboration is born of his ceramic glazes. “I always try to portray pieces that are reminiscent of nature. I have this yellow that reminds me of the grama grass from the Eastern part of New Mexico and this ash blue that reminds me of heavy monsoon rain.”
Once it’s time to install a piece in its new home, which West likes to personally oversee, he can sense the sculpture saying, “I belong here.”
—Cullen Arlington Curtiss.
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