martha jackson-jarvis April 15 – May 30, 2010
Martha Jackson-Jarvis a mixed media artist, works with diverse materials such as stone, tiles, glass, clay, cement, and steel.
mosaic techniques and stone cutting Her work consists of site-specific installation projects that incorporate the landscape and floor mosaics. She was born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1952, but grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and currently lives in Washington, D.C. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Antioch University and continued on to her Masters of Fine Arts at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Jackson-Jarvis also studied mosaic techniques and stone cutting in Ravena, Italy.
jackson-jarvis
JACKSON-JARVIS GATHERING SUMAC
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Rainwater installation was created for the Honfleur Gallery Annual East of the River Group Exhibition. The installation is highlighting arts and artists centric to areas East of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC.
rhythms of water and translucent colors Rainwater champions the primal replenishing source of energy of the Anacostia River. Towering Sumac saplings add shelter and structure that penetrate the architectural atrium of the gallery space, paying homage to the Nacotchtanke people who were famed traders along the banks of the ancient Anacostia. Rhythms of water and translucent colors display the cascading layers which are anchored by medicine bags of tears and rain in Anacostia.
rainwater
SUMAC SAMPLINGS, PLASTIC SHEETS WASHINGTON, D C . 2008
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Surrounded by a wrought iron fence the sculpture incorporates African symbols and four “bottle trees� that are embellished with brilliant glass blue bottles. The space was filled with elaboratoral detailed, brightly colored glass and ceramic mosaic pieces.
encrusted with shells, terra-cotta fish, and mosaic images Two elongated closed house shapes, reflective of the shotgun-style houses found in this Charleston neighborhood, are encrusted with shells, terra-cotta fish, and mosaic images of rice plains and mosquitoes – animal and plant life indigenous and important to the history of Charleston. Four large ceramic rain barrels were covered with vibrant orange, red, blue mosaic tiles and sculptural reliefs that shimmer in the sunlight.
rice, rattlesnakes & rainwater
CONCRETE, GLASS SHELL, CLAY, STEEL 10 1/2’ H x 24’W x 26’D CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 1997
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Placed at the threshold between the field and the forest, Crossroads marks a point that provides a transition in experience for the Park visitor – from public to private, manmade to natural, open to closed. The sculpture, a tall sentinel form, combines brightly colored Italian glass tiles, carnelian stones, and shattered bricks (recycled from the Polk Youth Correctional Facility, which was located on this property from 1920 to 1993) to create a densely patterned, textured mosaic surface.
Italian glass tiles, carnelian stones, and shattered bricks The artist has described her use of the prison bricks as “time capsules,� a way of creating a new work of art that speaks to the historical significance of this place. The sculpture is closely connected to the surrounding landscape.
crossroads
TERRACOTTA BRICK, STONE GLASS, STEEL, MORTAR 23’H x 1/2’W x 3 1/2’D RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 2006
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Music of the Spheres, commissioned by Fannie Mae, is at the entrance to one of the company’s headquarters buildings at the Fannie Mae plaza. Based on ancient theories of the harmony of universal order, the installation encompasses the transitory and the landmark, providing a setting conducive to purposeful contemplation for the students, commuters, and neighbors who pass by.
myth, lore and science, the orbs inject a sense of the “other” The spheres are composed of concrete evocatively and singularly encrusted with Indonesian jade pebbles, cobalt blue vitreous glass tesserae, and carnelian stone. Through their combination of myth, lore and science, the orbs inject a sense of the “other” into the visual clash of signage, steel, glass, and heavy pedestrian traffic that surrounds them.
music of the spheres
GLASS, CARNELIAN JADE, STEEL, MORTAR 10’H x 60’W x 60’D WASHINGTON, D.C. 2003
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Temple University Antioch University www.ncartmuseum.org National Endowment for the Arts, National Sculpture Grant 2110 Blue Ridge Road North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Raleigh, NC 27607 North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc. (919) 839-6262