April 2019: Jay Humphries

Jay Humphreys' artwork utilizes a variety of mediums. His work includes wood, along with materials such as electrical components, acrylic & oil paint, rope, thread, fabric, canvas. and pulleys.“My work is informed by my father, a now retired electrical engineer. Where it got interesting for me is what forms took shape within the confines of the box, or “frame”. His work was a solution to a problem, and therein lied beauty. My work is informed by these “problems” and the “boxes” that house them are frames made of wood, which are in turn informed by my own experience as a woodworker. As an engineer my father valued function over form. As an artist my work values the opposite. Most of the time my work begins with a frame. Then there’s a frame that frames the frame, and another frame that frames that frame. Within the center of the piece I create a chaotic focal point of painted concentric circles illuminated by lights. I’m interested in composition, lighting design, and aesthetics, but most of all form over function. However, the lights work because a little function never hurt.”