ARTIST STATEMENT
I have been making boxes and sculptural containers since I was a teenager. My first pieces were puzzle boxes where the inspiration was to try to make psychological portraits of the destined owners. I became a full-time artist/boxmaker in 1985 , and in the decades since then have made thousands of boxes, drawing inspiration for my pieces from many sources, including mineral formations, modern sculpture, psychology, the human form, and more abstract visual explorations. Over the past five years my inspiration has been the psychological realm of architecture, beginning with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and moving on to the fantasy architecture of artists such as Giovanni-Baptista Piranesi and M.C.Escher.
In my current architectural work I try to draw the viewer into a world where a sense of scale is lost. In each sculpture box I seek to intensify a specific aspect or emotional quality of the architecture. I’m interested in exploring the dualities of light versus dark and of exterior versus interior, of hidden versus exposed, and of openness versus containment. Mostly I’m fascinated with how different spaces have different emotional feels, and I try to manipulate forms, materials, and light to create an emotional response beyond the initial sense of curiosity.
It is important to me that my sculptures be containers, and that this is part of the curiosity and interest they attract. I feel that as humans we instinctively respond to containers, as we ourselves are containers for the soul, and that to know that something has an inside, and that some special thing might be contained there, is more than a pleasing conceit.
EDUCATION
Harvard College '74, Cambridge, MA
Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, Major in Music
COLLECTIONS
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT
Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, MA
Jerry Slocum Puzzles, Beverly Hills, CA
HONORS & AWARDS
2013 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Award
2011 Craft New York, Best in Show Award
2005 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Finalist
2004 Washington Craft Show - Excellence in Wood Award
1999 Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show - Outstanding Sculptural Objects Award
1996 Society of Arts & Crafts, Boston, MA - Artist Award
1994 Wadsworth Athenaeum Craft Show - Excellence in Wood Award
PUBLICATIONS (excluding newspaper reviews & articles)
2013 “Jay Rogers Fantasy Architecture”, Blurb Publishing
2004 “400 Wood Boxes”; T.Lydgate, Lark Publishing
2001 “Celebrating Boxes”; P. Lloyd & A. Crawford, Linden Publishers
INVITATIONAL SHOWS INCLUDE
ACC Baltimore Retail Craft Show, Baltimore, MD
American Craft Exposition, Evanston, IL
Crafts at the Castle, Boston, MA
Crafts Boston, Boston, MA
Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishing Show, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA
Providence Fine Furnishings Show, Providence, RI
Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC
Washington Craft Show, Washington, DC