JANE ROSENs e c o n d n a t u r e14 july - 23 august 2011

TAYLOE PIGGOTT GALLERY

62 SOUTH GLENWOOD ST PO BOX 1435

JACKSON WY 83001 TEL 307 733 0555

WWW.TAYLOEPIGGOTTGALLERY.COM

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PREFACE

“When you see a fish, you do not think of its scales do you? You think

of its speed, its floating, flashing body seen through the water…. Well,

I’ve tried to express just that. If I made fins and eyes and scales, I would

arrest its movement and hold you by a pattern or a shape of reality. I

want just the flash of its spirit.”

-Brancusi

Spending time at Jane Rosen’s studio was like witnessing the flash of

spirit that Brancusi sought to capture. Such a philosophy of seeing

is very close to my heart. With this perspective framing my vision

I capture the profound essence of nature and art seen through the

animal life. It was our reciprocal vision of the life force that instinctually

and immediately connected me to Jane’s work. Her art, whether bird,

fish or fowl, resonates with the fundamentality of the being’s spirit. The

word “essence” is defined as “the permanent as contrasted with the

temporary element of being.” Her sculpture is essence.

Thank you Jane for changing the way I see.

- Tayloe Piggott

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SECOND NATURE

The hawks perch in a tall tree. A tree that grows and changes each

time they land in it, build a nest in it, perch on it balancing in the wind.

In the late afternoon, they are illuminated in such a way that they both

blend into this tree and appear translucent simultaneously, much like

the branches of the tree that are illuminated in this late afternoon light.

How extraordinary that I was given the opportunity to learn about

glass, that the sandblasted pigmented glass birds are illuminated in

the same way that the birds I cohabit with appear to be. That the recy-

cled provencal stone seems like an eternal beam of light, much like the

streams of light that filter through the clerestories in the studio. The

light passing through the studio taught me to adapt to a new way of

working. I learned to work with the light as teacher, rather than trying

to control the lighting conditions. Wouldn’t it be grand if we were that

responsive to the changes that one’s life brings our way. What aging

can say about youth, what light can say about darkness, what animals

can guide us towards if we listen. What if this knowledge were in fact

second nature to us. We are, in fact, composed of two natures, which

seems to me so much like the passage in the Upanishads.

- Jane Rosen

Like two golden birds perchedon the selfsame tree, intimate friends, the ego and the Selfdwell in the same body. The former eats the sweet and sourfruits of the tree of l ife, whilethe latter look s on in detachment.

-The Mundaka Upanishad

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EXCERPT

Jane Rosen: It’s a hard word for me, “seeing,” because I’m firmly

convinced that seeing has nothing to do with the eyes in that way. I’m

not saying it doesn’t include the eyes. An impression comes in. It may

come in through the eyes. When I’m looking at a bird or an animal,

especially when I’m drawing it, the key is the shift in cognition where—

and I know when it happens, I can sense it.

Richard Whittaker: Are you talking about drawing?

JR: I’m talking about life. When we talk about taking in an impression,

most of the time I’m not taking you in, I’m trying to make an impression

on you. I’m going out. And there’s a shift that happens when I’m drawing

or when I’m looking at the dog or a horse or looking at someone in my

mind’s eye, there’s a shift where something in me listens, but not with

my ears. There’s another kind of listening. It’s kind of like from the

knees up to the shoulders is like a receiver or a satellite dish allowing

something to come in almost through my middle. It could be seeing

who someone is.

RW: Well, I wanted to go back to where you mentioned earlier

something about this bar of light that falls into your studio. Now you

said that this bar of light has…

JR: It changed my life. I always had studios where there were no

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bars of light coming in because that kind of light changes everything,

completely washing out the pieces. And at first, I was very upset with

the lighting.

RW: Right. There’s a huge contrast between the shadow and the

direct sunlight.

JR: All day from dawn until dusk you get extremes of light bouncing

all over and it was interfering. Then, just sitting in this chair day after

day, week after week—I never did free-standing, vertical pieces like this

before; my hawks were all low to the ground, like the Egyptian wing

piece—but what started to happen was I started to listen to the light.

I started to catch the light at various moments where the light would

inform what the height of the piece needed to be, or the turn of the

head. I started seeing the light as a help rather than trying to control it.

Being in relation to the light was a big thing!

The other thing is that I’m very involved with vertical and horizontal

movement, a movement in and out and a movement up and down. An

inner emotional stance is an outer visual one. If you get nervous, for

example, all the energy seems to go up. Your jaw tightens and your

eyes scrunch and you hold your breath up high.

So there’s this movement of going out to the piece, like if you

shot an arrow out to the piece. You’re looking at it, but there is also a

filtering back so that you’re also aware of yourself and the piece. So

that’s a movement in and out. And the movement up and down, I start

to wonder, isn’t this a cross? These pieces become representations of

a seeing both in and out. And the light, which I resisted enormously,

became the teacher.

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RW: Can we call that seeing?

JR: Yes. That’s another form of seeing. But when I talked about the

conference, it’s that more than one part of you needs to see. You can’t

see with your head alone. You can’t see with your heart alone, because

it’s very partial. You can’t see with your body alone because basically,

I don’t want to put down the cigarette or the cake.

The day I met that raven you were asking about, this is what

happened. I heard the dogs barking in the living room. Not a bark like

“someone is here,” which is an announcement. Not a bark like “get

away from my stuff.” That’s a territorial thing. Not a bark of fear like,

“Oh, my God there’s a bobcat on the deck!” It was a bark I wasn’t used

to, a kind of “What are you doing?”

I walked into the living room and there was the raven underneath

the chair at the dining room table. I looked at this big raven with huge

claws and this huge Roman beak. The raven somehow had walked

into the house before we had become friends and had gotten stuck

underneath the chair. I believe it was a mom and she was coming in

looking for food.

I looked at the raven and the raven looked at me. She had these

beautiful eyes and she blinked at me. It was clear she said to me, “I’m

stuck. I don’t know how I got under this chair. I can’t get out and you’ve

got two pretty big dogs. I’m in a situation here.”

So I looked at the raven and said, “Okay. Here’s the deal. You’re big.

You have sharp claws and this beak. You could hurt me. I’m going to

pet your back and if you don’t try to peck me or claw me, I will get

you out from under the chair. If you try to peck me or claw me, you’re

on your own.”

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She looked at me, cocking her head like she was thinking about it. It

wasn’t like she understood my words or I understood hers. There was

something in my tone that was explaining to her, in the same way there

was something in your inner tone explaining to the dog that you were

about to make a move. He was watching in an instinctive way what you

were conjuring. And was just waiting for your signal. He had it worked

out long before you did.

So I pet the back of the raven and not only does she not claw me,

she pulls her claws into her belly and tucks her beak into her chest.

I pick her up and I hold her like this [cradled in her arms] and she is

perfectly still. I put her out on the picnic table figuring she would make

a beeline out of there. She turned around, she looked at me and she

nodded.

Excerpted from an Interview by Richard Whittaker

‘Seeing’ published in Parabola Magazine, August 2011

GLASS WOOD STONE

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Prairie Falcon, 2011

Hand blown pigmented glass,

limestone and recycled redwood

58 x 12 x 13 inches

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Prairie Falcon, (Detail) 2011

Hand blown pigmented glass,

limestone and recycled redwood

58 x 12 x 13 inches

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Grey White Column (Left), 2011

Hand blown glass and limestone

90 x 9 x 17 inches

Grey White Column (Right), 2011

Hand blown glass and limestone

90 x 8 x 17 inches

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Grey White Column Left (Detail), 2011

Hand blown glass and limestone

90 x 8 x 17 inches

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Red Shouldered Hawk, 2011

Hand blown pigmented glass,

limestone and recycled redwood

70 x 12 x 12 inches

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Red Shouldered Hawk, (Detail) 2011

Hand blown pigmented glass,

limestone and recycled redwood

70 x 12 x 12 inches

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Artist’s Studio

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Dallas Bird, 2010

Limestone and pigment

63 x 12 x 7 inches

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Dallas Bird, (Detail) 2010

Limestone and pigment

63 x 12 x 7 inches

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Italian Twins (installed), 2011

Pigmented provencal limestone

56 x 27 x 14 inches (installed dimensions)

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Striped Bird, 2011

Hand blown pigmented glass

15 x 4 x 4 inches

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Pale Male, 2011

Hand blown pigmented glass

and pigmented limestone

71 x 10 x 20 inches

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Pale Male (Detail), 2011

Hand blown pigmented glass

and pigmented limestone

71 x 10 x 20 inches

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JANE ROSEN

Born New York, NY 1950

B.A. New York University 1972

Art Students League 1975

ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2011 Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson, WY, Second Nature

Braunstein-Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Wild Life

2010 Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, NY A Class of Birds

2009 JH Muse Gallery, Jackson, Wyoming, New and Selected Works

Gail Severn Gallery, Sun Valley, ID, Summer Bird

2008 Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA, Posted Turning

Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Gamut

2007 Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, NY, Mei Mei Series

Gwenda Jay / Addington Gallery, Chicago, IL, Re:incarnations.

2006 Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA, Tracking

2005 Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID, Wheel of Nature

2004 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Coastal Influence

2003 Alpan Gallery, Huntington, NY

2002 Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, NY, Small Scale

1998 Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MO, Reading Tea Leaves

1996 Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA

1995 Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY, Movement and Rest

Colgate University Art Museum, Hamilton, NY, Movement & Rest

1993 Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY, Better Nature

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1993 Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA

1992 Mincher-Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1990 Mincher-Wilcox Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1989 Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY, Sun/Moon

1988 Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY, Oak Island Studies

1987 Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY, Forming

1982 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY

1980 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY

1978 Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY

1975 Carlo Lamagna Gallery, New York, NY

1974 80 Washington Square East Gallery, New York, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011 Works on paper II, Danese Gallery, New York, NY

Armory Show, Danese Gallery, New York, NY

The Nature of Glass, Shack Art Center, Everett, WA

Heritage Bank, San Jose, CA, Curated by Jane Salvin

Conference of the Birds, curated by Cynthia Reeves, NH

2010 Art in Embassies Exhibition, Lisbon, Portugal

For Love of Paper, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson, WY

Intimate to Monumental, Gail Severn Gallery, Sun Valley, ID

Other as Animal, Danese Gallery, NY, curated by April Gornik

Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, American Academy of Arts and

Letters, NYC

Future Tense: Landscape in Transition, Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, NYC

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2010 James Castle & Jane Rosen, Dallas Art Fair, Dallas, TX

2009 Ed Musante and Jane Rosen, Gail Severn Gallery, Sun Valley, ID

Super Flat, Braunstein Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

Ashes to Ashes, Life and Death in Contemporary Glass, Virginia

Commonwealth Center, Virginia Beach, VA

Natural Blunders, De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA

Holiday Special: Gallery Group Show, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San

Francisco, CA

Contemporary Drawings and Works on Paper, Center for Contemporary

Art, Sacramento, CA

2008 Collaboration, Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA

The Fine Art of Banking, Heritage Bank, San Jose, CA

2007 Migration, Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA

Migration, Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID

2006 From Nature, Gwenda Jay/Addington Gallery, Chicago, IL

About Glass, Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA

Shifting into Balance, Buckhorn Sculpture Park, Petaluma, CA

Alignment, Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA

2005 Judy Pfaff, Jane Rosen, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Speaking Volumes, curated by Judith Tolnick Champa

Fine Art Center Galleries, University of Rhode Island, R.I.

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AWARDS

2010 Purchase Award, Academy of Arts & Letters Invitational

Exhibition, New York, NY

2008 Artist in Residence, Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, WA

1999 Artist in Residence, Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, WA

1988 MADEIN / Luso-American Foundation Grant

1982-83 CAPS, Full Award in Sculpture

1980-81 NEA, Full Award in Sculpture

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

1996-2006 Special Lecturer

University of California at Berkeley Art Department, Berkeley, CA

1998 Research Fellow

LaCoste School of the Arts, France

1995 - 1996 Milton Avery Distinguished Visiting Professor

Bard College, Annandale-on-the-Hudson, NY

1994 - 1995 Special Lecturer

University of California at Berkeley Art Department, Berkeley, CA

1993 Visiting Consulting Professor

Stanford University Art Department, Stanford, CA

1990 - 1992 Visiting Assistant Professor

University of California at Davis Art Department, Davis, CA

1985 Visiting Professor

Maryland Institute, College of Fine Arts, Baltimore, MD

1978 - 1989 Senior Faculty School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

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COLLECTIONS

U.S. Embassy Baghdad

Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY

Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO

Brooklyn Museum, NY

Chase Manhattan Bank, NY

Chevron Corporation, CA

Ciba-Geigy Chemical Corporation, Ardsley, NY

Douglas Maxwell, NY

Grace Borgenicht Collection, NY

Lowe Art Museum, FL

Luso American Foundation, Portugal

The Mallin Collection, Buckhorn Sculpture Park, CT

Memorial Art Gallery of Rochester, University of Rochester, NY

Mitsubishi Corporation, LA

Novell, Provo, UT

Phoenix Arts Commission, Phoenix, AZ

Proskauer, Rose, Goetze and Mendelsohn, NY

Prudential Insurance Company, Newark, NJ

Scottsdale Museum of Art, Scottsdale, AZ

U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq

U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia

Yellowstone Museum, Billings, MT

Published on the occasion of the exhibition

J A N E ROS E NS e c o n d N a t u r e14 july - 23 august 2011

Tayloe Piggott Gallery62 South Glenwood Street, PO Box 1435Jackson, Wyoming 83001Tel 307 733 0555

www.tayloepiggottgallery.com

Catalog designed by Ali Scheier

Printed by Northern Printers

Interview by Richard Whittaker“Seeing” published in Parabola MagazineAugust, 2011

Photographs by Richard Whittaker, Scotty McDonald, Alexander Rohrig, and Charlie Hawks All rights reservedTayloe Piggott Gallery

Acknowledgements

With deepest thanks to an amazing team: Ross Richmond and Kimberly Haugh for their exceptional work with the glass; Terrance K. Tierney, Alexander Rohrig and Sebastian Ages for their amazing efforts on this body of work; Richard Whittaker for his depth and insight in the Parabola interview and his ever beautiful photographs, Scotty McDonald for his photographic skills and sensitivity; and to Tayloe Piggott, ever the muse with eyes to truly see, making all things possible.

(Previous Page), Glass Blow Study # 3, 2010

Korean watercolor, beeswax, gouache and ink on paper

22 x 30 inches