December Artist Feature: Jedediah Morfit
South Jersey Cultural Alliance is pleased to feature the work of South Jersey based artist, Jedediah Morfit. Morfit received his MFA in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2005, where was awarded the Sylvia Leslie Herman Young Scholarship and the Award Of Excellence. He was a Fellow at the Center For Emerging Visual Artists from 2007-2009, and received a New Jersey Council On the Arts Fellowship for sculpture in 2009 and received numerous awards. His work has been shown in numerous group and solo exhibitions, and featured in The New York Times, Sculpture Review, Juxtapose, Hyperallergic, Artnews, and American Craft Magazine, as well as on NJTV’s State Of the Arts.
The Good Sister, Sculptamold, plaster, urethane foam, thermoplastic, wood, metal 9.5"w x 25”h x 11.25"d, 2020
Can you tell us about your practice?
Morfit: In the context of contemporary sculpture, I suppose my practice is quite narrow. I work almost entirely with the figure, and the process generally involves elements of traditional modeling techniques. On the one hand, I think of it like composing sonnets or haiku - a set of arbitrary constraints that inspires creative solutions. The important difference is that, as an artist, those constraints are developed and defined internally. Which is really just another way of saying I keep finding new avenues to explore within the confines of my own interests.
The Complete History Of A Blind Spot, plaster, wood, graphite, 17.25”h x 14.5”w 3"d, 2021
Can you tell us about the process of your relief portraits?
Morfit: In between college and grad school, I worked a number of art related jobs. One of those jobs was at a printmaking studio, where I was introduced to the concept of the edition varie - an editioned work in which each piece is individually modified by the artist. I find there’s something almost scientific about this process, where experiments can be explored in the context of a consistent control. This particular example is from a series that all started with castings of the same portrait (you can find the full series on my website), which were modified in different ways.
Self Portrait, With Ambition, Polymer Modified Gypsum 62.5"w x 57"h x 6", 2011
How has South Jersey impacted your practice?
Morfit: To be honest, I didn’t know there was such a thing as “South Jersey” until we moved here, and we live in Collingswood, which is probably more of a Philly suburb than a South Jersey town. With that said, the most direct impact South Jersey has had on my work would probably be through my 15+ years teaching at Stockton University. The traditional conception of teaching is that the learning travels in one direction, from teacher to students, but of course it is not as simple as that - if you are serious about teaching, you cannot help but be influenced by your students. In the past years, I have been more intentional about that process, using my classroom a bit like a laboratory for ideas I want to explore, or projects that might not fit within my personal studio practice.
Check out more of Jedediah Morfit’s work on his website here and follow his art on Instagram!
