Amanda Pierce

About the Artist

Jason James Cresswell is an abstract artist working in the Washington D.C. / Baltimore area. Raised and educated in rural western New York State, Jason work is heavily influenced by industrial and agricultural landscape that he was surrounded by as a youth. After leaving Alfred University in the mid 90's Jason moved to Houston, Texas where he continued to develop his artistic vocabulary as a painter and his work began to draw on the space and light that his new surroundings provided. Jason then moved to Maryland where he began to do some sculptural work mostly in found metal objects and wood. The sculptural work heavily drew from Jason industrial influences of his youth and provided him with a new pallet for painting. His most recent work is marked by a unique use of collage as

Artist's Statement

My work is influenced directly by the American heavy manufacturing industry. This industry was once the proud pillar witch our nation survived upon and now has fallen into decay. As a youth I was surrounded by industrial metal fabrication and the production of glass and ceramic and this left a strong impression on me. Latter when I moved to Houston, Texas and then Baltimore, Maryland the subject matter began to show a great influence in my work. I could not read a newspaper or drive down a street without eventually being confronted by it. The harsh esthetic of the derelict factory mixed with the emotional plight of those who were left jobless has a very significant impact on me as a person and therefore my product as an artist. The loss of this great industry is now even more important as our nation is trying to lift itself from the most current economic down turn and will not have this once great force to rely on as it has in the past.