An Exercise in Looking: The work of Jess Beige
Confined but together. The mantra of 2020 that we’re all sick of hearing. Is this another coronavirus related article? Thankfully no, but the work of Korean-American, London-based artist Jess Beige speaks to wider implications about confinement and unity that extend beyond any global pandemic, and strikes the core of our nature as nuanced human beings at large.
Jess Beige’s current series, The Odyssey for TOGETHER, is a series of compact sculptures made of wax, steel and aluminium. Each sculpture bears a letter or two—E, T, O, H—crafted and curled from aluminium, and embedded into wax. When the works are assembled all together, it becomes apparent that the letters in each piece form a word: TOGETHER.
The Odyssey for TOGETHER: E with Shelter, Wax, Steel and Aluminum, 2019.
Courtesy of the artist.
Detail: The Odyssey for TOGETHER: E with Shelter, Wax, Steel and Aluminum, 2019.
Courtesy of the artist.
Beige is interested in how collective emotions, thoughts, and motions transfer from the immaterial to the material. She states, ‘As thoughts become words, words are then shared, every letter wears in age, it bends and it travels. Words become materialised, as if language was almost tactile and approachable. Like vessels, airships.’ Indeed, the ‘bending’ of the letters are reflected in works such as H with Plate, where the letter ‘H’ is clearly seen fixed into a block of black wax, from which a thick steel bar protrudes at one end. The whole structure is placed upon a metal plate, and fixed to the wall for display. What is curious about this work, however, is that despite the industrial, monochromatic and abstract appearance of the sculpture, the letter ‘H’ curls and waves at its ends, almost frivolously. It gives the work a sense of quirkiness, an idiosyncratic coyness, even, that contradicts the more minimal nature of the rest of the structure.
At a recent group exhibition in London (titled ‘Nothing in this Drawer’, a show that comprised of the works of five students in the MA Painting course at the Royal College of Art), Jess Beige reveals to me that in the process of making her art, the pieces of metal that form the letters in her sculptures curl and bend of their own volition when manipulated with aluminium scissors. The artist allows this process to take its course, waiting to see what results, before assessing where best they slot into the rest of the sculpture.
The Odyssey for TOGETHER: H with Plate, Wax, Steel and Aluminum, 2019.
Courtesy of the artist.
There’s something endearing about this process of allowing the materials to transform without much intervention by the hand of the artist. It gives the sculpture its own personality, its own sense of will, perhaps like a rebellious teenager, who wishes to embark upon his or her own course, writhing and wriggling to break free from a structured community, and yet not quite ready to leave it just yet.
In addition to the self-curling aluminium letters, wax also forms a vital aspect of Beige’s works. Wax is a malleable, adaptable material that can come in a solid or liquid form. What appears to be concrete and set in stone can melt away in minutes when subject to heat. Perhaps this, too, is a metaphor for the communities we live in. Centuries of history and culture often render a worldview or community lifestyle unchangeable. And yet, the individuals who compose these societies are all nuanced, complex, and, when put under heat, adaptable.
Install shot: (left) The Odyssey for TOGETHER: T and O with Bar, Wax, Steel and Aluminum, 2019; (right) The Odyssey for TOGETHER: E with Shelter, Wax, Steel and Aluminum, 2019.
Courtesy of the artist.
Perhaps, then, the work of Jess Beige is not as industrial and emotionless as may appear upon first glance. With each minute spent gazing upon these compact structures, a layer of hard unfamiliarity is removed from these sculptures, revealing more of the works’ personalities and warmth with each shedding. The slight curve of the letters wave and flirt with the viewer, shyly at first, and then more confidently. The creaminess of the wax appears softer, almost welcoming. The metal plates in the work become more maternal in nature—they form a shelter or a platform to elevate the wax blocks.
Finally, then, Jess Beige’s The Odyssey for TOGETHER series isn’t a commentary on industry, isolation, or confinement, as may seem upon the first viewing. Rather, these compact sculptures are actually a message of warmth, homeliness and fluid being… even if it is the case that these works need to get used to the viewer before shyly unravelling their true characters.
Vienna Kim,
Head of Interview, MADE IN BED