When I make sculpture, I am concerned first and foremost with form—not an image that the mind can grasp, but a volume that takes up space. Representation has been defining beauty for centuries, but we live in an abstract world. I no longer distinguish between representation and abstraction. The searching for essential form, and the paring down that my work entails leaves space for one's own interpretation. Through extensive drawings, the abstract forms I arrive at, again and again, are reminiscent of something, but not really that thing. If each viewer sees something different in a particular work, then I feel that I have been successful.
Many of my forms are biomorphic and some recall the human body. I work with symmetry, or forms that are approaching symmetry, because there is an inevitability and a presence that only symmetry provides. It is important to me that the sculpture stand solidly on the ground, rising up by its own effort, occupying it’s ordained position in space.
I want to refine an idea to its most succinct and inevitable essence—its unique shape at rest. I have spent many years exploring this essence, which, to me, is beauty. The abstraction of the forms is inspired by ancient sculpture that exudes solidity, timelessness, and mystery. I strive to make work that has these qualities. I want the pieces to be like a beautiful melody that one returns to again and again.
Many of my forms are biomorphic and some recall the human body. I work with symmetry, or forms that are approaching symmetry, because there is an inevitability and a presence that only symmetry provides. It is important to me that the sculpture stand solidly on the ground, rising up by its own effort, occupying it’s ordained position in space.
I want to refine an idea to its most succinct and inevitable essence—its unique shape at rest. I have spent many years exploring this essence, which, to me, is beauty. The abstraction of the forms is inspired by ancient sculpture that exudes solidity, timelessness, and mystery. I strive to make work that has these qualities. I want the pieces to be like a beautiful melody that one returns to again and again.
Solo and Group Shows
2006 AMERICAN BUDDHAS, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA2004 Dense, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
2003 SUMMER SHOW, Rico, Brooklyn, NY
2002 INAUGURAL SHOW, Rico, Brooklyn, NY
2001 EVERYDAY ART: JAY SWIFT AND TOM PAPPAS, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1999 THE HUMANOID, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1997 CROOKS AND CRANNIES, Lycomiong College, PA
1995, 1996, 1997 GARDEN SCULPTURE, Angelos Camillos Residence (Kouros Gallery), Ridgefield, CT
1996 JAY SWIFT, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1993 JAY SWIFT, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1993 ANNUAL SCULPTURE SHOW, Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY
1992 OUTDOOR SCULPTURE SHOW, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, Brooklyn, NY
1991 JAY SWIFT, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1990 JAY SWIFT, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1990 INAUGURAL SHOW, Gallerie Nadeau, Philadelphia, PA
1989 DIVERGENT VIEWS, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
1988 PILLAR TO POST, in the Arch at Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY
1988 OUTDOOR SCULPTURE SHOW, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, Brooklyn, NY
1986 THE 61ST ANNUAL EXHIBITION, National Academy of Design, New York, NY
1985 FIFTH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION, Oscarsson Hood Gallery, New York, NY
1985 112 WORKSHOP, New York, NY
1984 ON PAPER, Oscarsson Hood Gallery, New York, NY
1984 SUMMER SHOW, Oscarsson Hood Gallery, New York, NY
1983 JAY SWIFT, Genovese Gallery, Boston, MA
Bibliography
February 2006 Boston Globe, Cate McQuaid
March 2004 The Boston Phoenix, Boston, NY
July 2001 Arts Media, Boston, NY
July 2001 Boston Globe
Jan. 1996 Boston Globe, Cate McQuaid
Jan. 1996 South End News, Christopher Millis
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture
Kutztown State College 1974-1978
Residence
New York, NY 1979-1997
Middlefield, Massachusetts 1997 to present