Words by Kyle Niart

There’s a certain air of wonder and magic to inanimate objects that look like they’re alive but are not. Things so fine and precise in their detail they’re knocking on the doors of perfection, so totally right they look like the work of Mother Nature herself. Things like the ‘beasts’ that Jessica Joslin creates. Although clearly made up of an eclectic mix of manufactured and natural parts, these creations still give the impression they could get up and walk across the room. Welcome to the wonderful world of Jessica Joslin

‘When I was a little girl, I fell madly in love with a room-sized case of articulated skeletons‘ Jessica Joslin begins intriguingly. ‘It was like stepping through the mirror. I grew up wandering in the magical halls of the Harvard University Natural History Museums. There was a skeleton of an ostrich, giraffe, lions and shrews. There were beautiful, exotic animals and tropical birds of every hue, all taxidermied. The exhibits were in beautiful old wooden vitrines, with tiny engraved brass plaques and hardware. The creatures in the exhibits felt like inhabitants of another mysterious world. I was enchanted by the strange beauty of it all, which imprinted my dreams.’

In fact if Joslin had not become an artist she says she ‘would be working in the realm of the biological sciences. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a marine biologist. I’m not sure if that would have held my interest through the years, but it’s probably not very far from the mark.’

Originally from Boston, Joslin now lives in Chicago and for the last 16 years has shared a studio with her husband Jared, himself a painter and, she jokes, ‘very brave man’ because his easel is positioned behind her and ‘little bits of metal are always flying over into his area.’ She describes her space as something sounding like a mix between a pirate’s treasure chest and a well organised junk store: ‘The studio is lined with rows and rows of tiny drawers, labelled with things like: mouse bones, fish scales, glass eyes, watch chains, pewter feet and brass couplings. Larger objects are in wooden boxes on a shelf. Bones are sorted by type – leg bones, skulls, etc and metal parts are sorted by shape and or type – rods, balls, musical instrument parts, drawer pulls, etc. I also have boxes of things like antique vestment trims, opera gloves and fur collars. I love plants, so the windows are full of ferns and bromeliads in lovely old brass and copper containers. I have a shelf filled with curiosities like bird skulls, porcupine quills, seashells, a goose egg, a seahorse and a dried lizard. At the moment, I’m working on a Fiji mermaid – a monkey with a fish’s tail. Since it’s still in progress, my desk is covered with small silver trays filled with the pieces for the various parts of its structure. My reference images are pinned to the wall, below a deer antler wall plaque. There is an anatomical illustration of a monkey skeleton and a reproduction of PT Barnum’s original Fiji mermaid. There is usually a deer hoof ashtray on my desk and there is always music in the air.’

The FULL interview with JESSICA JOSLIN appears in issue 5 of Mynameis? magazine - click here to purchase your copy www.graphotism.com/Subscribe-Graphotism-or-MyNameIs-Magazine.74.0.html