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Jesse Dermody's Strange Forms

I call them my monsters...they're benevolent monsters who care, and they would like to give you a feeling of inner wealth...They are not not scary guys or girls, they are monsters who would like to help you heal. - Jesse Dermody on his Strange Forms

  

Strange Forms, Jesse Dermody's exhibit at the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids is a collection of substantially sized, found object creations that, though abstract, emote lifelike, personified tendencies. It's a characteristic of his art that may have been inspired by and was indeed affirmed with a chance meeting in France decades ago.   

The old man, he was talking to me...and he said, “well, at a young age, I figured, why? Why can't an arm be a river? And why can't the chest be a mountain range?" And that's that's a mixing of senses...a mixing of the inner and outer worlds that's so important to making artwork that sticks....it took about 45 minutes and it influenced a lifetime. - Jesse Dermody

Living close to the land and absorbing the intricate details of existence thru heightened senses and intentional awareness, Jesse translates his sensory input into the languages of music, verse and sculpture.  In this Area Voices segment, learn about his Strange Forms, his creative process, and how his multi-modal creative experiences feed off of and into each other. 

Tune in to the MacRostie Art Center's Facebook page or website this Wednesday evening at 6pm for Dermody's virtual artist talk!

Katie Carter started at Northern Community Radio in 2008 as Managing Editor of the station's grant-funded, online news experiment Northern Community Internet. She returned for a second stint in 2016-23. She produced Area Voices showcasing the arts, culture, and history stories of northern Minnesota.