On Exhibit
Implement 60 by Jessica Drenk will be for sale at the Cynthia Reeves Gallery booth at Seattle Art Fair, a massive exhibition of art from around the world that runs August 2 to 5 at CenturyLink Field Event Center.
The Materials
It was made with somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 pencils. They are held together with wood glue, and then the artist used a belt sander to shape the exterior.
The Process
The artist wore a full-face respirator while sanding this, not because of the sawdust but because of the graphite dust. It got all over her clothes and turned her arms silver.
Interior vs. Exterior
Inside and outside seem to have been reversed. Outside the sculpture, you're seeing the insides of the pencils. Inside the sculpture, you're seeing the outsides of the pencils.
The Shape
From certain angles, Implement 60 looks like a falcon dive-bombing through the air, or a rock smoothed by a flowing river.
The Artist
Jessica Drenk grew up in Bozeman, Montana. She's been to Seattle many times because "it was one of the nearer large cities," she says, laughing. She currently lives in Florida.
Man-made vs. Natural
Drenk transforms everyday objects—like rolls of toilet paper (left), PVC pipe, coffee filters, and cotton swabs—into objects that look like nature. "I'm very concerned about the relationship between humans and the environment," she says.
Other Works
Another of Drenk's recent works (right) is made out of coiled strips of pages from discontinued or unwanted books, the edges of the pages arranged to form what looks like a cross section of a tree.
