John de Wit
NWDC is pleased to share the art and ideas of John de Wit.
When I was quite young, I had my first visual encounter with something that interested me; my mother had chickens, and on the table was a carcass, freshly butchered, the hen opened up to reveal the eggs in stages of development, from small to larger, the calcium not quite hardened. It was the color that was most attractive to me, an opaline white. What struck me was the translucency, the vagueness of what was on the other side, the transmission of light. A visual experience I have never forgotten.
My life since has been filled with places, events, injury, growth and process; all material in one form or another to manifest itself as impetus for ideas and creation. The use of glass for the last forty-eight years has also lent itself as a partner in the use of other materials, wood, paper, metal, and light; ideally to complement, but also as counterpoint. As visceral as the flesh of the dead chicken was to the tenuousness of the calcifying eggs, I wish for my work to bear witness to a personal vision, and exclaim its primacy and originality.
The explorations with glass, metal, wood, and the processes used to intertwine these materials are a result of my interest in the ever-changing physical world I see, feel, and have experienced. I am drawn to the ambiguous, as well to the literal, the metaphorical holds promise as truth, and raw divide becomes sublime harmony. I view the years of experience, development of techniques, and refinement of process as grains of protein coming together to make an unexpected complement, fashioning material into ideas, and content. — John de Wit
How were you introduced to art?
Well, this is a tricky question, one answer would not suffice. Let's just say I grew up in a household and world experience spanning growing up in Central America, colonialism as a backdrop to my father's world view, immigration to the USA, three languages spoken, the effects of war trauma on both my parents, my teenage years in California 1960's, with the war in Viet Nam as a source great anxiety... finding PLACE in all this, it was my eyes and hands. that started the ball rolling. Though confidence was lacking, my hands at work on elective clay classes while studying my major at CSU-Chico atuned myself to results and goals. I had amazing professors while there, with their guidance, I prospered. You aren't introduced to art at a drive-up window. Time allowed horizons to open and opportunities to slowly unfold.
Where do you find inspiration when creating new work?
Usually it's the body of work that I currently work on that spawns a set of questions and trials for a newer body of work. I strive for 'less is more'. I don't know if I will ever get close, but the journey never loses its fruitfulness.
What do you consider your greatest artistic achievement?
That I am still enjoying what I do with a passion and joyfulness.
What is the quality you most like in an artist?
That I can wear blue jeans into any situation.
John de Wit, Purse, Glass, 2020. / John de Wit, Double, 2020.
Which living artist do you most admire?
Martin Puryear.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
No answer.
What is your most treasured possession?
My ability to see and use my hands.
Who has had a significant influence over your work?
Carlo Scarpa, Jun Kaneko, Shoji Hamada, Bertil Vallien, Louise Bourgois, Betty Woodman, Ruth Asawa.
John de Wit, Tab, 2020. / John de Wit, Nest, 2020.
How has your studio practice changed?
To achieve goals efficiently and effortlessly.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Taking a well-deserved nap, while Anouar Brahem plays in the background, and a silver of warm sunlight coming through the window.
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