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J E S S I C A L A R S E N

@jlarsen_studio

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Craftsman / Artist
Material-driven craft and quiet forms
Rural Idaho
Studio Collaborations Open

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I’ve taken some time away from the physical act of making. Giving myself time to just sit, read, look, and be inspired. To not feel the need to produce anything, but to think about what I want to make next.

I’m slowly making my way back into the studio. It’s been a sweet break. by @jlarsen_studio

I’ve been using more ash wood in my artwork lately.

Beyond its strength and beauty, ash carries a rich history of protection, healing, resilience, and connection. Across generations and cultures, people have returned to this tree for both practical use and symbolic meaning.

I like to think that when we choose a material, we also inherit its stories.

#AshWood #WoodworkingArtist #MaterialStories #ContemporaryCraft #craft tradition by @jlarsen_studio

As an artist, I know that sometimes the things we say about our process can sound overly poetic. Maybe even a little cheesy. I get it. I hear it too.
But creativity has been my most trusted companion for as long as I can remember. It has stayed with me through grief, uncertainty, loneliness, and all the moments when I wasn’t sure who I was or how to move forward.
People pray to angels, gods, ancestors, and unseen forces. I do too. But very often, I find myself kneeling at the altar of creativity.
Because creativity has repeatedly shown me a path through darkness. It has given shape to things I could not name. It has taught me how to sit within chaos and discover meaning within it.
Creativity is primordial. It belongs to no one and is available to everyone.

And if I sound poetic when I talk about it, it is because I am talking about something I love. by @jlarsen_studio

@brophymarket Jessica Larsen — 2025
Available in store and online at Brophy Market by @jlarsen_studio

I don’t know how all artists feel about their work moving into someone else’s home, but for me, it’s one of the most meaningful parts of the process.

I make each piece with the intention that it will live with someone, becoming part of their daily rhythm and environment. I think a lot about how the work will feel to live with, how it exists in a lived-in space, and how its presence might gently evolve the energy over time.

Installing When Facing North in the home of the sweetest couple felt like a quiet confirmation. That the unseen parts of the process, the intention, the care, the energy held in the making, are still there. They are apparent, even if not always visible. by @jlarsen_studio

Oh, When Facing South… you have taught me about making my own maps and finding my own way. That growth feels like expansion, and expansion is rarely a straight line. It asks us to follow warmth, to notice where the spark lives, and to keep tending it. When facing south, I am gathering warmth and abundance, learning how to carry that fire forward and let it nourish what comes next.

#art
#artwork
#artist
#Wayfindjng by @jlarsen_studio

Labeling myself has never come easily. When people ask what kind of artist I am, I often shrug and say, “Sometimes I make things.” It is a little elusive and a little funny, but it is also the closest thing to the truth. Much of my time is spent thinking, dreaming, and meditating on meaning and and materials. Half of the work happens there, quietly, in drafts in my mind.

If I am lucky, some of those plans make their way into physical form. When I am lucky -Sometimes I make things. And when I am even luckier, I get to share the things I make.
❤️

#Artist
#ArtMaking
#Storyteller
#MaterialThinking
#SometimesIMakeThings by @jlarsen_studio

When you share space with an object, when you stand in front of it, move around it, and feel its scale and quiet presence, it becomes something different. The energy of the piece shifts, and so does the way we relate to it.

Crafted objects hold more than their materials. They hold weight, texture, subtle details, and a kind of presence that asks to be experienced in person.

Many of my pieces don’t translate easily through a camera lens. They’re meant to be encountered slowly and physically, in the same room.

#wayfinding by @jlarsen_studio

When Facing South
When Facing South is a collection of works about expansion, warmth, and transformation. South is the direction of fire, growth, and outward movement. To face south is to ask how we expand, where we kindle our passion, and how that warmth can be carried forward to nourish ourselves and others. It is a direction rooted in abundance, generosity, and gratitude, a reminder of our capacity to grow beyond our edges while remaining connected to our humanity.
The installation is organized around a central circular form that functions as hearth and heart. Framed in white oak, a tree long associated with endurance, wisdom, and longevity, the structure holds the fire at its center. The oak becomes the steady boundary that contains intensity without extinguishing it. The deep red surface reads as heat, as blood, as life force made visible.
From this central fire, ropes extend downward. They do not match in tone, asking us to notice subtle dualities within expansion. Knots and deep red bindings interrupt their length, moments where something is offered, tied in, given of self. These interruptions mark time and intention rather than accident. Expansion here is not careless. It is bound, chosen, and deliberate.
Surrounding the hearth, orbiting forms operate like a star map. They chart movement outward from the center, mapping connection and exchange. The black rubber orbs absorb and draw inward, while obsidian centers reflect and mirror. Together they pull in and push out, protecting the field while also holding truths up to be seen. The ash rounds, coated in varying layers of wax, encase and preserve light. Their surfaces catch and diffuse what the obsidian reflects. Two of the ash forms are shaped like fans, subtly fueling the fire and brightening the map. These fan elements are fitted with horsehair, a material associated with movement and breath. The horsehair suggests the act of tending, of fanning embers so that warmth continues rather than fades.
Together, these materials and forms create a dynamic system of wayfinding. When Facing South, they offer tools for tending inner fire, navigating outward movement, and carrying warmth forward with intention. by @jlarsen_studio

When Facing West is an installation of works that embody stillness, descent, and quiet endurance. West is the direction of water, reflection, and turning inward. To face west is to slow, to rest within uncertainty, and to trust what cannot yet be fully seen. It is a space shaped by shadow and transition, where light lowers and depth becomes perceptible.
The paired circular forms suggest a horizon at the end of day, suspended between light and dark. They echo both the lowering sun and the cycles of the full and new moon, illumination and obscurity held in rhythm. At their center rests a darkened void, a space that feels deep and endless, like water whose bottom cannot be measured. These forms act as steady markers, holding position even when conditions shift. The horizon-like divisions suggest thresholds between above and below, known and unknown, surface and depth.
Flanking vertical elements rise like quiet rungs, offering a ladder to navigate the depths. They suggest the possibility of return after sinking, of finding handholds within shadow. Rope marked by use and mending speaks to wear and repair. A dip of wax encases sections of the rope, preserving its frays and touch, as though sealing the memory of high and low tides rather than erasing them. Thread and natural dye introduce subtle tonal shifts that feel lived-in, while a small red ribbon binds the rope like a token of remembrance.
Walnut grounds the work in resilience and protection. Long associated with wisdom and endurance, the walnut tree shelters its fruit within a thick hull, holding what is vulnerable inside strength. Gypsum cement and resin create reflective, sealed surfaces that shift gently with light, reinforcing the cyclical movement between illumination and shadow.
Together, these materials and forms create a system of wayfinding. When Facing West, they offer tools for reflection, endurance, and the quiet strength required to move through darkness toward return. by @jlarsen_studio

When Facing East evokes the feeling of newness that arrives with each sunrise. East is the direction of air, breath, wind, and beginnings. Paired circular forms framed in Sapele suggest the slow dawning of the day, when light gathers along the horizon. Floating forms sculpted from gypsum and lacewood rest on ash shelves, acting as quiet instruments of orientation. Wool elements soften the structure, reinforcing breath and gradual awakening. When Facing East, these materials serve as tools for openness, renewal, and the courage to begin again.

#wayfinding #artwork #contemporaryart #contemporarycraft #sculpturalinstallation by @jlarsen_studio

Wayfinding explores the tools we use to find our way when clarity is unavailable. Rooted in traditions of craft and intuitive making, the work takes the form of abstracted tools that suggest function without prescribing use. Structured through the cardinal directions and their elemental counterparts, the installations form a navigational system that moves between grounding, ignition, breath, and depth. Arranged as wall-based compositions, these tools read like maps or charts, creating environments that hold orientation and invite presence rather than instruction. Together, the works reflect a belief that tools carry meaning beyond utility, offering quiet support for the journey inward and the moments of transition we navigate along the way.

#graditude #thankyoueveryone #artwork #gallerywork #conterporarycraft by @jlarsen_studio