Jonah Jacobs Profile

    I am a Cleveland area artist. I was born in Denmark but have lived in the United States for most of my life. I am a graduate of Antioch college. I am also an Army veteran who served in S. Korea and in the 82nd Airborne Division.
    My goal as an artist is to educate people about the aesthetic possibilities of recycled materials. To achieve this, I incorporate into my art, everyday household objects, found objects, and waste materials. Though the materials I use are constantly changing, the following are a sample of some of the materials I have used in the past: Found paper objects, paper cup bottoms, scraps of cardboard, shoelaces, bits of string, toilet paper rolls, and a host of other found and recycled materials. These materials are altered with paint, dyes, oils, and a host of other products and then combined into intricate and ornate pieces which resemble organic structures.
    It is not my intent to create works of art which are exact representations of organic structures, instead my goal is to use unconventional materials in ways which challenges a person’s perception of those objects. In altering everyday waste materials and using them to create organic looking structures, I hope to not only introduce people to a new aesthetic possibility, but I also hope to highlight some of the fundamental processes involved in nature. Such as: What is the role of repetition in establishing order and beauty in an organic structure? What types of structures can be made using waste materials and what are the aesthetic and physical limitations of those materials? How much of a role does nature itself play versus the artist, in the final composition of any given art piece?
    My artwork therefore, not only grapples with aesthetic principles, but also explores some of the fundamental principles of nature itself.