BEAUTIFUL SHAPES WITHIN SHAPES NOW

JENNIFER MAESTRE

Every shape is made up of other shapes. Everything is the sum of its parts. Whether you drill down to examine molecules, atoms, or subatomic particles or you expand your view to our ever-expanding universe, everything gets its shape from component shapes.

Artist Jennifer Maestre creates fantastic sculptures, with wild organic shapes, all made up of pencils.

Originally inspired by the spikey shapes of sea urchins, Maestre forms her pieces using whole pencils as well as cross-sectional pieces and shavings.

Some of Maestre’s pieces look like alien flowers, while others look like fantasy octopi, and some are simply inspired abstracts.

Marvelously textured, with sharp leaded pencil points and smooth freshly milled cedar wood, and glossy painted coatings, Maestre’s pieces both invite us to touch and refrain from touching. Either way, we feel them.

“The spines of the urchin, so dangerous yet beautiful, serve as an explicit warning against contact,” Maestre explains. “The alluring texture of the spines draws the touch in spite of the possible consequences. The tension unveiled, we feel push and pull, desire and repulsion”

Beyond sea urchins, Maestre is inspired by animals, plants, and mythology, as well as the works of biologist  Ernst Haeckel and artist Odilon Redon.

To make the pencil sculptures, Maestre takes hundreds of pencils, cuts them into 1-inch sections, drills a hole in each section (to turn them into beads), sharpens them all and sews them together using a peyote stitch beading technique.

Born in South Africa, Maestre first learned about art growing up in Maynard, Massachusetts, from her artist mother. She went on to study glass art at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design.

Maestre started using pencil stubs to create art out of necessity -- she couldn’t afford the material and studio costs of glass work after graduation.

Her fascination with sea urchins first led her to working with nails because she liked the pointy textures she could render with them. But she wanted to work with more complex shapes, so she began to experiment with pencils.

Maestre is currently working on a series of masks made from pencils. She also creates jewelry with laminated pencils.

Maestre’s most recent works were part of an exhibition titled “Waste to Art” in Baku, Azerbaijan.  See more of Maestre’s beautifully shaped art at the Art Space Gallery, her website, and on her Facebook page.

You can also buy Maestre’s sculptures and jewelry at her Etsy shop.

Read more about Beautiful Shapes this week.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Aurora.”
2. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Chalice.”
3. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Ibentina.”
4. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Seethe.”
5. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Star Gazers.”
6. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Basilisk.”
7. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Asteridae.”
8. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Cycad.”
9. Image: by Jennifer Maestre.
10. Image: by Jennifer Maestre.
11. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Threnody.”
12. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Chimera.”
13. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Luna.”
14. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Mother of Pearl.”
15. Image: by BN App - Download now!
16. Image: by Jennifer Maestre. “Aurora.”