FOLIO
Jeremiah Douglas is a modern-day hunter/gatherer. Admittedly, the 33-year-old visual artist and resident of Ddowntown Jacksonville isn’t exactly scavenging the urban core for his very survival, but the creation of his sculptures and assemblages is contingent on utilizing found objects. Discarded electronics, rust-mottled appliances, fragments of various metals and corroded musical instruments are all assembled and rearranged in Douglas’ warehouse studio. The result is a kind of amalgamation of these familiar objects, now manipulated into new, original forms.
Yet Douglas distances himself from contemporary art catchphrases like “repurposing” or “reclaimed.”
“I don’t mind these words too much, but I think we have to be careful for things to not be lost in translation,” Douglas says. “I love the fact that these items are something you either see every day or are scarred, broken, rejected and one-of-a-kind. You can’t go into an art store and buy it off the shelf — therefore they’re the perfect art supplies for me.”
The upcoming exhibit Rustic Atmosphere at FSCJ’s Kent Campus Gallery features works by Douglas and photographer Scott Blake, who creates large-scale, color landscape images. This show is a continuation of the curatorial visions of artist-instructors Mark Creegan and Dustin Harewood, who in the last three years have featured inventive works by local artists, including Laura Mongiovi, Troy Eittrem and Hiromi Mizugai Moneyhun. “I am really drawn to the way Jeremiah makes these quirky juxtapositions in his sculptures,” says Creegan. “I think he works in this time-honored assemblage mode but injects it with great wit and intensity.”
That same intensity is expressed in Douglas’ work ethic — a single work can take anywhere from 45 minutes to four years to complete.
“Typically, a piece can take from four to 12 hours to finish,” says Douglas. “It’s a labor of love. And rather than clock my hours, I’m just trying to make sense of it all.”
The outcome of his recent activities is featured at the Kent Gallery show, where he will unveil his latest assemblage, found object and sculpture works as both stand-alone pieces and wall-mounted items.
Douglas’ decision to choose certain materials over others is based more on discernment than random selection. “I started out with wood, then metal. These days, I added plastic and wire to the mix; because why not? It’s there, it’s not in use and anything goes,” Douglas explains. “I save it from hitting the landfills.”
The piece Gas Powered Trombone is indicative of Douglas’ attempts to resurrect refuse and give it an alternative life as art. Vacuum hoses, a wooden rod, a faucet handle, a gold-colored wheel and a motor-like object are grafted onto a tarnished trombone. A tendril of wiring shoots outward from the side; the cumulative effect is one of harmony and dissonance, as the arranged materials seem to struggle with their original characteristics to form this puzzling invention.
“I’ve always been fascinated with objects, and I like to give them a second chance on life,” says Douglas.
Musical instruments are a recurring motif in Douglas’ work.
“I love music and, just like other objects I use, I find these unplayable things discarded and I like to enhance or transform them into something else,” he says. “I don’t feel bad about it since they’re wrecked — and it all goes back to a celebration of music.”
As Douglas carefully chooses his materials and spends time merging them together, his work seems based on a kind of editing, even if that might be an unconscious part of his process. However, he admits that he isn’t creating any type of deliberate narrative, although the absence of any storyline might result in a greater effect on the audience.
“I love impact and to shock the viewer; or like to think I’m breaking some barriers, allowing them to open up their minds, or perhaps get them thinking of carbon footprint or WWIII — all terrible issues shadowing us every day. Sometimes less is more, though. It’s all just poetry.”
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