Jason Robert Griego >> Bio
Jason Robert Griego Jason Robert Griego is a sculptor working in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past twelve years. He uses techniques and materials he’s developed over the last decade to create sculptures of bone, resin and natural pigments that become works symbolizing what it is to be human. Griego’s iconic work resists easy categorization – symbolist, surrealist, expressionist, etc. – and his use of materials and dynamic approach creates sculptures that have a raw and organic beauty. Griego believes words or descriptions can sometimes injure the communication of sculpture. “It’s difficult to translate the language of sculpture into the language of words. It becomes a copy of a copy – it loses resolution in the translation. Sculptures only become alive when they are viewed directly. They’re a delivery system or a language used to convey an emotion or idea in a very singular way.” J. Robert Griego -The Truth in Sculpture - 2004 Griego’s work allows our personal and inner emotions to be reflected back to us. The figures, with their strong silhouettes (defiance) and detailed surfaces (surrender), show us as we ought to be – noble and strong, with an inner dignity. They reveal how all things are temporary and all things are forever. Griego has taken sculpture and stripped it down to its purest essence - honesty. Specific sculptures: Each sculpture has personal meaning that may be different to each viewer. Griego tries to stay away from giving too much explanation for an individual sculpture so as to not prejudice the viewer’s perception of the piece. That being said, I've pulled some of his initial thoughts about the sculptures off the studio walls (you haven't seen the studio, but basically he uses the walls as his sketchbook). Balance: The idea that things we accumulate are not ours to own. “Possessions”, whether great or small, are only ballast against the truth – we are all temporary in this place and no one really owns anything. We all know this to be true at some level. Never the less, we try to shore up our own delusions of forever through the acquisition of objects. This human inclination in itself is not a danger – in fact, it leads to hope, help, church and god – but it must be viewed occasionally with clear eyes in order to find the balance. Good Book: It takes big wings to rise above and see beyond the written truth. The same book – the good book – any book will do – to be the lens in which to see the truth. The same book – the good book – or just any idea too – be a shield, a wall, blinders or binders to hide behind a truth. The same book – the good book – every truth also has a poison tooth – it takes big wings to rise above the two. Serenity III: I look at her in profile as she sleeps. I stand above her while she rests. “It ain’t poetic but she almost looks dead”. She hardly breathes when she dreams and tonight she’s got me hanging on every breath. I stand above her but I know her dreams don’t come down from me. Out from her chest, from her lips, from her breath – she's mine. Pencil Where a Rose Used to Be: We are the lives we remember, not the lives we live. What is written becomes the truth, if you can believe it – a rose is a rose is a rose: unless it’s written and the memory is a peach with a monster pit inside it. And the wedding? The wedding went off without a hitch, and the photographer nailed it. |