Jay Ressler
Artist's Statement
Like a child stuffing fireflies in a jar, I make art to savor and imagine fragments of time. Frozen moments have a magical quality as the layers and complexities are revealed. I’ve found inspiration in the writings “magical realists” like Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Mo Yan, as well as from other literary figures.
In my ongoing series “Magical Mystical Tour,” I present multi-layered photographs that aim, through their painterly character, to address big social and environmental issues and to tell stories about how we live in the so-called “post-industrial age.” In truth we live in a new industrial age, very different than the last century.
The forms, the loci, and the numbers of grease- and soot-stained workers have changed; new products, such as information, have been commodified and industrialized. Decaying and abandoned urban areas are being renovated and repopulated. Many of my pictures incorporate images of operating industrial facilities and weather-worn textures from working-class neighborhoods in transition. Unlike widespread “ruin porn,” my work does not cast a nostalgic look back. It visits places not widely seen and embraces the textured present as it is lived with a hopeful eye to the future.
Like a child stuffing fireflies in a jar, I make art to savor and imagine fragments of time. Frozen moments have a magical quality as the layers and complexities are revealed. I’ve found inspiration in the writings “magical realists” like Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Mo Yan, as well as from other literary figures.
In my ongoing series “Magical Mystical Tour,” I present multi-layered photographs that aim, through their painterly character, to address big social and environmental issues and to tell stories about how we live in the so-called “post-industrial age.” In truth we live in a new industrial age, very different than the last century.
The forms, the loci, and the numbers of grease- and soot-stained workers have changed; new products, such as information, have been commodified and industrialized. Decaying and abandoned urban areas are being renovated and repopulated. Many of my pictures incorporate images of operating industrial facilities and weather-worn textures from working-class neighborhoods in transition. Unlike widespread “ruin porn,” my work does not cast a nostalgic look back. It visits places not widely seen and embraces the textured present as it is lived with a hopeful eye to the future.
Selected Shows/Awards
2013
2013
- Jurors award Hoyt Regional Exhibition for the “House that Jack Built,” Juror Linda Benedict-Jones
- The New Collective, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. “Steady As She Flows,” Jurors: Petra Fallaux, Clayton Merrell and Renee Stout
- Fair in the Park, juried fine art fair, Pittsburgh, PA
- Solo Show, “Steel City Medley,” Make Your Mark Art Space, Pittsburgh, PA
- Solo Show, “Magical Mystical Tour,” Back Stage Bar, Pittsburgh Cultural District
- Five Artist Invitational, Art Association of Harrisburg
- Joan Macey Swanson Award, Pittsburgh Society of Artists (PSA) Annual Show, for “Pillow Talk,” Juror: William DeBernardi
- Juror’s Award, Pittsburgh Society of Artists Sanctuary Exhibit for “Padlocked, No Sanctuary,” Juror: Patricia Bellan-Gillen
- First Prize in Photography, 85th Annual International Juried Art Show, Art Association of Harrisburg, for “Steady as She Flows,” Juror: N. Lee Stevens
- First Prize in Photography, 84th Annual International Juried Art Show, Art Association of Harrisburg, for “From When She Was So Young,” Juror: Robert Cozzolino (2012)
- Merit Award for “Machine Age Blues,” Point Park University Celebrates 100 Years of Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Juror: Sarah Hall (2010)
- Jurors award for “The Night Gerald Turned 60,” When Night Falls, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Juror: Michael Olijnyk (2009)
- McConway & Torley, LLC
- Standard Forged Products
- Pittsburgh Chiropractic
- BA, Psychology, Albright College.
- Continuing education Pittsburgh Filmmakers with Ivette Spradlin, Dillon Vitone; also encaustic painting with Lorraine Glessner
- Berks Art Alliance
- Art Association of Harrisburg
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