Jerry Jeanmard

Louisiana-born Jerry Jeanmard's artistic process is one of intellectual freedom and improvisation, as whimsical as the characters he creates. From his collection of found papers, he plays around with forms, patterns and compositions, letting a figure grow organically before gluing it in place. Of particular appeal are discarded papers which have been folded or written upon, random inscriptions given new significance. Of his process he explains, 'I dont always know how they should look, but eventually I wind up there.'

'I have always loved paper. Newsprint, graph paper, kraft paper, wrapping paper, book paper, construction paper, any paper plain or printed. That goes a long way to explain the drawers full of it that I've collected, some of which I've owned for fifty years or more. But it wasn't until I started saving laundry tags - the colors! the numbers! - that I began to think it was about time for me to do something highly constructive with my highly diverse accumulation. And so I began gluing them together into collages, at first abstract compositions driven by shapes and colours and textures.

Soon - perhaps due to some subconscious reconnection with a former career as an illustrator - I began to create figurative pieces. They've been great fun to make, partly because I'm becoming re-acquainted with some old, neglected possessions that still make me happy. But it's also been a liberating experience: for somebody to whom control means a great deal, it's very rewarding to begin with very little preconception and watch these motley scraps take on an identity of their own.' - Jerry Jeanmard

Photo credit: Scott Petty