Jackson Tsai
Welcome to My Portfolio
My name is Jackson Tsai and I’m a visual artist based in the greater Los Angeles area of California.
I am currently working in Los Angeles, CA.
I work in both the traditional sculpture & drawing/painting and medium of digital photography & performance
Why do I make art? The answer is simple; I find a personal connection with both the space and surrounding environment. The presence of a three-dimensional object’s physical manifestation in the exhibition space or specific site captures the imagination and demands our attention. “Sculpture offers us a space, an object or an installation, for interaction and contemplation”. The direction of my research and pursuit of an area that I have a passion for and can truly connect with has been eye opening. An important corollary is that the visual elements in my everyday life have been revealed that I would not have seen otherwise. I discovered beauty in simple shapes all around me that gave me a sense of balance, symmetry, order, and even elegance when large scale.
When I work with sculpture, I am reminded that my bodily movement is put into work by creating the artwork and this will be visually taken on action by the viewer to experience the same developing viewpoints as to how I work through my process. My artwork will draw the attention of the viewer to look closely at the artwork and question the ambiguity in minimalist art. I begin a piece by having a backbone main structure constructed either with metal or wood. As my process progress, I draw into using industrial materials and found objects and dematerialize them by breaking down into pieces or steps to create the artwork. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of personal connection with my work and the presence of my previous markings defines the existence of my process and when incorporating the found object or objects and the object takes on a relational aesthetic to the work and giving it personality, then the work is complete.
Photo credit: Nick DiFilippo
CV
August 2009 - June 2011
California Museum of Photography
University of California, Riverside
Exhibition Designer Assistant
******
August 2009- June 2011
Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts
University of California, Riverside
Exhibition Designer Assistant
******
Sept, 2008 - June 2011
University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA
Department of Arts, Sculpture Lab Studio
Teaching Assistant for Sculpture Courses
******
EDUCATION
2004-2011
B.A. in Fine Arts (Studio Art)
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, California
June 2011
******
2007-2009
University of California, Riverside Extension Center
Riverside, California
******
2001-2004
Sunny Hills High School
Fullerton, CA
******
Exhibitions
April 16, 2009 Evidence
April 30, 2009 Past & Now
May 21, 2009 As An American Born Chinese
September 30, 2009 New Painting
October 23, 2009 Radical Discontinuity
October 27, 2009 Billboard Project
December 3, 2009 My Trophy Collection Series
July 13, 2010 But First, define the mountain:
Joey Lehman M
September 20, 2010 Self Similarity
October 20, 2010 Culver Center of the Arts: Gala Opening
November 6, 2010 Happy Hour
November 9, 2010 ‘ ‘Green-ner Planet’
December 3, 2010 Art Thesis Show
December 5, 2010 Blue Prints
December 5, 2010 Eye Contact
December 18, 2010 Abstraction on Dirt
January 3, 2011 David Maisel
February 5, 2011 Margarita Cabrera : Pulso y Martillo
May 3, 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition 2011
May 21, 2011 Shameless Self-Promotion: Moving With Stillness
June 20, 2011 Twisted Selves
June 20, 2011 River Run: Photography by Sant Khalsa
October 1, 2011 Seismic Shift & Aftershocks
October 6, 2011 The Great Picture
December 3, 2011 JEFF & GORDON: Play Against