Imaginative Armatures & Alternative Covers
with Jessee Rose Crane
$250 Lab Fee | June 28 – July 4 | Exploratory
In this hands-on sculpture course, students will build three-dimensional armatures and cover them with a range of materials that reflect their individual ideas and aesthetics. Working in Ox-Bow’s Metals Studio, participants will fabricate skeletal frameworks from wood, metal, and found or natural objects, then experiment with unconventional surfaces such as hot glue, foraged materials, and recycled scraps. Through demonstrations in welding, joinery, and finishing, students will learn to balance structure and play, creating expressive forms that merge intuition, resourcefulness, and personal narrative. Slide lectures and discussions will connect students’ projects to a lineage of artists who have redefined sculptural form and material. We will examine the organic abstractions of Barbara Hepworth, the accumulative constructions of Leonardo Drew, and the monumental playfulness of Niki de Saint Phalle. Additional context will include the collaborative experiments of Black Mountain College and approaches ranging from the minimalist clarity of Brancusi and Mid-Century Modern design to the maximalist abundance of Nick Cave and Allyson Mitchell. Readings and screenings—such as Taking Imagination Seriously (Janet Echelman, 2013) and Design and Play: The Story of Charles and Ray Eames (Dave Buck, 2021)—will expand our understanding of design, sustainability, and emotional resonance in sculptural work. Assignments will invite students to experiment with scale, texture, and conceptual layering through two main projects: one three-dimensional self-portrait and one abstract sculptural design. Both will emphasize the use of personally meaningful or repurposed materials as a way of exploring identity, memory, and form. By the end of the course, students will leave with a deeper understanding of structure and surface—and a set of imaginative, unconventional sculptures that embody Ox-Bow’s spirit of invention and play.
SAIC students: This is a 1.5-credit course; use the course code SCULPTURE 697 001.
Jessee Rose Crane (she/they) is a multidisciplinary sculptor, arts administrator, and musician. Her approach to sculpture joins technical skills with a creative process that encourages play and embraces art in the everyday. Her practice combines steel with various media to craft both functional objects and conceptual experimentations used in exhibitions, videos, and live performances with her band Glow in the Dark Flowers. Crane received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She is the Director of Rose Raft, an artist and musicians’ residency and analog recording studio founded in 2015, and has taught several metals/sculpture classes at Ox-Bow over the years. She takes joy in giving students ample individual attention and holistic support.