JEFF KRUEGER

STATEMENT

Wallace Stevens wrote “Let be be finale of seem” in his poem, The Emperor of Ice Cream. This for me is the shining mantra of Modernism, and in ways the root of my art practice. As a ceramic sculptor, I make works that are akin to design, that is, they are objects unto themselves as much as they are objects which refer or represent something exterior to themselves. This can be said about my works on paper as well. 

A main theme within my work is that of the fecund. What is fecundity when viewed through the prism of humanity? It would have something to do with our sexuality, but it would not be limited to this. It would have to be a concept that would cast a wide net over the fields of our economy, our spirituality, and much more. I have used my work as a way of exploring this concept, in a way towards conceptualizing its many faces towards what I hope is an advance in consciousness. In this way I see the work as a form of abstract social realism. 

One theme within my work is a consideration of infinity, a concept which I see linked to notions of human fecundity. We see ourselves within a continuum of the infinite. This is a core facet of most major religions, it is also oddly woven into modern growth based economic models and many science models. I have tried to render this concept in a variety of ways through singular objects or images. I have also tried to render how this infinity (our infinity) is bound to the world we live in, be it, our bodies, the natural world or our manufactured world. The subject matter, or point of referent in these works is the everyday and incidental objects or moments of wonder.