Jean Noon ~ Statement

I draw through space with wire. My work is about structure, humor, shadows, and movement. I alternate between simple and complex forms. I am fascinated by the negative space within and around structure. My heros are, among others, Alexander Calder, Debborah Butterfield, Henry Moore, Arthur Ganson, and Jin Soo Kim.

As a farmer I have years of experience fencing with wire for electric fence to contain sheep, the llama and horses. As a sculptor I us wire to contain ideas and suggest figures and forms. Horses and animals inspire the work as a subjects. This is a continuation and expression of my life long passion for and involvement with birds and beasts.

My pieces are composed of various materials including used sheep fence that is recycled electric company wire, steel rod, rocks from the fields, beams from old barns, tin and aluminum recycled from cans.

The action of winding and weaving the wire around and around becomes meditative and structural. Often the materials assert themselves and the piece takes on it’s own gestured direction. The problems and challenges of working with wire lead to ideas and possibilities for variation. I enjoy pushing the physics of the wire to explore the serendipitous boundaries of its tolerance. Some of the sculptures are kinetic and become animated when agitated by a breeze, a tap, or a movement in the building.

The structural and formal aspects of vessels and basket shapes have been of particular interest to me. I have explored a wide range of images using the wire to apply drawings to the warp and weft of the basket form.

Another feature of my work that is difficult to capture in a photograph is its' potential for shadows that occur with direct spot lighting. Shadows amplify and integrate the work into its’ environment and move with the kinetic pieces.