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There’s a certain air of wonder and magic to inanimate objects that look like they’re alive but are not. Things so fine and precise in their detail they’re knocking on the doors of perfection, so totally right they look like the work of Mother Nature herself. Things like the ‘beasts’ that Jessica Joslin creates. Although clearly made up of an eclectic mix of manufactured and natural parts, these creations still give the impression they could get up and walk across the room. Welcome to the wonderful world of Jessica Joslin

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LucaMixed media assemblage2007

hen I was a little girl, I fell madly in love with a room-sized case of articulated

skeletons‘ Jessica Joslin begins intriguingly. ‘It was like stepping through the mirror. I grew up wandering in the magical halls of the Harvard University Natural History Museums. There was a skeleton of an ostrich, giraffe, lions and shrews. There were beautiful, exotic animals and tropical birds of every hue, all taxidermied. The exhibits were in beautiful old wooden vitrines, with tiny engraved brass plaques and hardware. The creatures in the exhibits felt like inhabitants of another mysterious world. I was enchanted by the strange beauty of it all, which imprinted my dreams.’ In fact if Joslin had not become an artist she says she ‘would be working in the realm of the biological sciences. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a marine biologist. I’m not sure if that would have held my interest through the years, but it’s probably not very far from the mark.’

Words by Kyle Niart Images courtesy of Jessica Joslin

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riginally from Boston, Joslin now lives in Chicago and for the last 16 years has shared a studio with her husband

Jared, himself a painter and, she jokes, ‘very brave man’ because his easel is positioned behind her and ‘little bits of metal are always flying over into his area.’ She describes her space as something sounding like a mix between a pirate’s treasure chest and a well organised junk store: ‘The studio is lined with rows and rows of tiny drawers, labelled with things like: mouse bones, fish scales, glass eyes, watch chains, pewter feet and brass couplings. Larger objects are in wooden boxes on a shelf. Bones are sorted by type – leg bones, skulls, etc and metal parts are sorted by shape and or type – rods, balls, musical instrument parts, drawer pulls, etc. I also have boxes of things like antique vestment trims, opera gloves and fur collars. I love plants, so the windows are full of ferns and bromeliads in lovely old brass and copper containers. I have a shelf filled with curiosities like bird skulls, porcupine quills, seashells, a goose egg, a seahorse and a dried lizard. At the moment, I’m working on a Fiji mermaid – a monkey with a fish’s tail. Since it’s still in progress, my desk is covered with small silver trays filled with the pieces for the various parts of its structure. My reference images are pinned to the wall, below a deer antler wall plaque. There is an anatomical illustration of a monkey skeleton and a reproduction of PT Barnum’s original Fiji mermaid. There is usually a deer hoof ashtray on my desk and there is always music in the air.’

Canto and SilvaMixed media assemblage2003

HelmutMixed media assemblage2005

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LudwigMixed media assemblage2006

OttoMixed media assemblage2006

LeopoldMixed media assemblage2006

he art that Joslin makes is unusual in many ways. It is beautiful, fragile, lifelike and yet obviously made

by the human hand. Her first ‘beast’ – named ‘Marco’ – was created back in 1992. Joslin says she started off as a photographer but a series of events changed her direction. ‘By the time I hit art school’ she explains, ‘I was making photos of mixed media constructions, which integrated natural and manmade elements. In part, what started me off on that path was a package my Dad sent. It was filled with objects we’d collected when I was little, seedpods and shells and bones. I used those, combined with objects that I’d collected on my own while wandering around the alleyways of the lower east side of New York. By the time I transferred to the Chicago Art Institute the sculptures I was making for my photos had become increasingly complex and photographing them started to seem secondary. Right around then, my apartment got robbed two nights in a row – my photo equipment all gone. I took this as a sign and changed majors using the insurance money to buy some hand tools and a drill press. That’s when I got started in earnest. One day, I found a bag of Victorian millinery supplies – gorgeous black bird wings, a head and a tail, mounted on delicate thread-wrapped wires. When I brought them back to the studio, I knew that I had to make a body for those parts and they became ‘Marco.’’ Her sculptures are very complex, involving a lot of component parts. A self-confessed ‘inveterate collector’ she finds parts ‘everywhere I find myself ’ from antique shops, flea markets, specialty hardware stores or on walks through the woods. She has specific rich hunting grounds: ‘Over the years, I’ve found certain objects I enjoy working with and seek out specifically. For example, the metal tips on antique parasols make wonderful finger or toe tips; that element has recurred in several different pieces of various species. There is a wonderful, old, dusty shoe repair supply shop in Chicago. I love to go poke around through the crumbling paper boxes of buckles, grommets, and tacks. There is a piece I made named ‘Marcel,’ a small antelope perched atop a circus ball and the tips of the hooves are made from shoe taps I found there. The moment that I saw them I thought, “It’s a hoof!’’

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brass machine screws in many sizes, swivels, standoffs, universal joints, springs, nipples, balls, finials and couplings from various specialty suppliers around the US. Shops selling electronics components, fly tying supplies, upholstery shops, woodworking materials, taxidermy equipment, parts for model trains and speciality pneumatic couplings. As she jokes, ‘Sometimes, I think it’s as if I’ve developed my own version of the Erector Set!’ Just as Joslin collects things she also collects interesting names for her creatures: ‘Many of the names originate from genealogical research, after my own ancestors, or from biographical dictionaries, other artists, characters in novels and from acquaintances. When I come upon a name I love the sound of, I write it in a big book and when a sculpture is finished, I bring out my name book and search for one that seems to suit the character of the creature. It’s not that different than naming pets or children I suppose.’ Joslin’s creatures range from those carefully planned to happy accidents as she elaborates: ‘Sometimes I’ll set out to make a bird and it turns into a cat along the way! The ones that are more specific are often things I’ve had tucked away in the back of my mind until I come up with a solution to a certain riddle. That riddle might be solved by a new technique I’ve learned or a part I find. Sometimes with a new piece, I’ll start off with one particular object and a general sense of scale and species. I often begin with the pelvis, since that’s the centre of gravity or with the feet since they often have the most components. For example, just one of ‘Ludwig’s’ feet is made up of about 30 different parts; they set the scale of the piece. If I come up with a toe configuration I love for an entirely different species than I’d planned on, sometimes I’ll just shift direction. I usually work on several pieces simultaneously, so I can keep things moving along when I have to set one aside to find a particular part. Sometimes it can take a long time to find the perfect piece of 19th century brass vestment trim or a vase with just the right size and contour. The bodies of my flamingos, ‘Candido’ and ‘Caprice’ were made from an old brass vase and it took several attempts to find one that, when cut into sections, formed the right shape. As I go along, they tell me what they need…’

Lambert and SalviaMixed media assemblage2006

MarcelMixed media assemblage2006

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oslin’s a very tactile person, so much so she reckons it informs her artistic decision-making: ‘Often I’m guided by

the actual materials in my hands or on my workbench. The shape of a particular object is often the start of a new piece. I lust for beautifully formed antique brass. I find the precision of finely honed craftsmanship to be endlessly intriguing.’ The process of creating such technically precise sculptures requires a great range of skills but Joslin says most of these have been acquired through her professional work or through trial and error over time: ‘It took me forever to figure out how to make an eyelid just so. I use kid leather from antique opera gloves to construct the surround for the glass taxidermy eyes. As in painting, achieving a particular expression is a very finicky process. Sometimes it takes several tries to get the gaze to be naturalistic. Of course, that is just one small step in the overall process.’

OdetteMixed media assemblage2006

ValeriaMixed media assemblage2006

CeresMixed media assemblage2006

JI lust for beautifully formedantique brass. I find the precision of

finely honed craftsmanship tobe endlessly intriguing.

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rofessionally Joslin has spent many years in workshops learning to master modelling, rapid prototyping,

carpentry and sculpture and each skill set contains elements that have helped in her own work. In terms of technique she believes her prototype work has probably been the most useful, as she continues: ‘Building a working prototype requires a level of discipline and precision that agrees with me. Whether it’s a toy or a machine, it has a specific function to accomplish within a set of rigid parameters. If the parts don’t fit, it won’t work. It’s common to be working within 0.010 of an inch accuracy, the thickness of a sheet of paper. Doing that work taught me how to think in terms of engineering with regard to my sculptures. Ultimately it made it possible to create pieces in a wide range of scales that are freestanding and still hold true to my favoured materials and aesthetic. My pieces are assembled using mechanical connections, so parts are generally drilled, tapped and threaded. Each angle has to be figured out. If a single hole is off, one of the feet might not touch the ground or it would be lopsided. There is a lot of engineering and finesse that goes into making them seem natural and effortless, as if they were meant to be.’

FigaroMixed media assemblage2007

There is a lot of engineeringand finesse that goes into making them seem natural and effortless,

as if they were meant to be.

CeriseMixed media assemblage2007

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espite amassing so many skills there are still challenges of course, like connecting materials of vastly varying

properties. Joslin says bones are particularly tricky, ‘since they vary a lot from species to species. Each has specific qualities, strengths and weaknesses. Bird bones are hollow and light, so they tend to be comparatively fragile. In contrast, large herbivores like cows have very dense, heavy bones, to support the weight of their flesh. Bone can be supported by metal, in terms of structural reinforcement. I often run a threaded rod through the hollow centre of a leg bone to strengthen it. Making an ostrich was an interesting challenge, as they are very large, but since they are birds, the bones are thin-walled. To attach the legs to the pelvis, I didn’t want to just screw into the bone, it might not have been strong enough. Instead, I found two threaded, hollow brass balls that fit into the hip sockets perfectly and attached them to each other with a large threaded rod. That way, the pressure of the attachment was dispersed throughout both leg sockets evenly – similar to the way it might be in a living animal.’ Since the sculptures vary greatly in scale – from about an inch to nearly six feet tall – the time required to build them also varies a lot. The average is about several months but there can also be several months of planning and collecting before beginning the actual construction, ‘not to mention the time I regularly devote to searching for new materials and researching speciality hardware’ she adds. ‘The more I plan in advance, the less time it takes once I actually sit down to do the work. Somehow it all evens out.’

Admiral and LuceMixed media assemblage2008

Virgil and AceMixed media assemblage2008

GustavMixed media assemblage2006

The idea of doing commissions in Joslin’s line of creation is an interesting one. Of course a collector

could commission a new piece, but then, more interestingly so could someone wanting to celebrate a late pet. Joslin elaborates: ‘‘Happy’ is the first of the beasts made to commemorate a specific pet using its actual bones. It started with a conversation at one of my openings. I was talking to a couple of collectors. They told me about a pet they had once had, a cranky, mean old dachshund, ironically named ‘Happy.’ He lived to a ripe old age and when he died, they buried him in the backyard. Ten years later they were walking around the property where their old house had once stood. The bulldozers excavating the property had knocked down a large tree and its roots had unearthed ‘Happy’s’ skeleton. It was lying on the ground, perfectly intact, upon the blue baby blanket they had buried him in. The couple decided this dog was clearly meant to stay with them, so they packed him up and tucked him in a closet. What a perfectly bizarre, wonderful tale! I told them if they ever wanted to commission a piece from him to let me know. A year later, I began the piece, with only the instructions, ‘make something wonderful.’’

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LautrecMixed media assemblage2008

EgonMixed media assemblage2008

Bodies are stunningly perfectmachines and there is such strong

variation in the characteristics of different species. I’m endlessly intrigued by their

beauty and strangeness.

ooking at Joslin’s sculptures, it’s not hard to imagine them coming alive. It’s something she’s considered too,

right down to what sort of fantastical environment they might live in. ‘From time to time, hints of the world that they might inhabit are incorporated into the display of my pieces. For example, ‘Egon,’ a small monkey, is displayed swinging from a cast metal branch with long brass leaves and ‘Vida,’ a tropical bird, sits perched upon a leafy spray. I imagine my creatures might live within a lushly fecund garden, contained within a Victorian era glass-paned conservatory. The plant life would be formed from intricately detailed brass and silver, representing a myriad of species in different configurations. Minuscule crystal dewdrops encrust the leaves and drip off the edges, held by tiny wires. Insects like Cicadidae and butterflies of unexpected colours fly through the air and alight atop flowers formed from glass. Since this is my fantasy world, the glass flowers would be crafted by the Blaschkas. ‘Lautrec,’ a bat, swoops through the air and alights upon the graceful truss work and folds his wings. Heavy velvet curtains lead into a second chamber, where there are three small circus rings with constellations of pinpoint lights trained upon them. There are several acts being practiced simultaneously. ‘Gustav’ does tricks on his tricycle to the accompaniment of a player piano. ‘Lupe’ does balancing acts with a ball, while her twin partner, ‘Fiala’ pulls a two-headed bird called ‘Lartet’ on a tiny cart. Two harnessed and saddled emus, each with a small monkey-like jockey – ‘Admiral’ and ‘Luce’ and ‘Virgil’ and ‘Ace’ – prepare to race, while the other animals cluster around to enjoy the show. This would be a truly amazing sight.’

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his type of incredible fantasy world unsurprisingly provokes some strange reactions from people, as Joslin

recounts: ‘In the beginning, people were either charmed and intrigued or found my work somewhat disturbing, mainly because it incorporates bones, there wasn’t much middle ground. I suppose that still holds true today. My early work was much less refined technically, but it always drew a strong response. I still have people contact me because they have just re-discovered my work. People who haven’t seen it in 15 years or so, but still immediately recognize it as mine. It’s a wonderful compliment.’ Given her wide range of source material it’s no surprise that her inspirations and influences are equally varied: ‘I’m as eclectic as a magpie. I often draw from circus imagery, mainly from the late 19th to early 20th century. The Circus World Museum is not far away from Chicago, in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It has an amazing archive of catalogued images and objects and if I find a wonderful image or a new piece of information, it can get me thinking about a particular species in a different way. I love to look at images of animals and to watch them move, whether in the flesh or in nature documentaries. Bodies are stunningly perfect machines and there is such strong variation in the characteristics of different species. I’m endlessly intrigued by their beauty and strangeness. ‘I’m also drawn to the particular peculiar stylistic organization of the natural world as found in old school Natural History Museums and perhaps more aptly, in Cabinets of Curiosities. This is a fascination that dates back to when I was a small child and still captures my imagination. It has its roots in a desire to learn, but also to organise, sort and to understand by means of attempting to control the uncontrollable – nature. In my case, this is achieved through creating my own world.’

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AsterMixed media assemblage2008

oslin is also inspired by the work of a number of other artists: ‘The other Joslin artists are my absolute

favourites, my husband Jared’s paintings as well as his brother Russell’s photographs. I often look at the images of Albertus Seba, Jaap Best and Eadweard Muybridge when deciding what I will make. I also adore the work of Frederic Ruysch, Lee Bontecou, Giuseppe Arcimbaldo, Walton Ford and the lush, stylized look of photographers like Eugenio Recuenco, Erwin Olaf and Pierre et Gilles.’ As for the direction of her future work, expect larger and more. As Joslin concludes: ‘I’ve always wanted to make a giraffe. In part, it’s because I fall in love every time they bat their huge eyelashes. In terms of my work, they seem perfect because their anatomy is already very stylised. The neck is long and elegant, the legs graceful, the head and eyes are proportionately large and of course, there are those wonderful knobby horns! I’m also intrigued by the thought of a larger grouping of the same species like a pack of wolves or a flock of birds. All in good time...’

Be sure to check out www.JessicaJoslin.com for more

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