Metals Artist in Residence
Artist in Residence / Metals
Jason York /
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Biography
Jason “The York” earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Iowa State University in 2004. After graduating, he moved to Vail, Colorado to gain more experience as a bench jeweler while working for artist Jim Cotter. York also spent time honing his skills as a blacksmith in Vail. In 2007 he moved to Carbondale, IL where he received his Masters of Fine Art degree from Southern Illinois University earlier this year. York became the Metals Artist in Residence at the Craft Center in August 2010.
Artist Statement 
The time and struggle of making an object is every bit as important as the finished piece. In our “click and ye shall receive society,” it is unique and comforting to have the ability to actually create something. There is a freedom and satisfaction involved in making items that, sadly, many people never take the time to experience.
My current body of work deals with memory loss. My memories are fading. Remembering what happened even yesterday is somewhat taxing. Remembering last week is tricky, last month difficult, and the bulk of last year nearly impossible. Significant events pass on as if they’d never happened. Important people no longer have a name, just a face. Classmates, teammates, roommates and distant relatives’ names are now shrouded in uncertainty. From the important to the mundane, nothing takes precedent over this memory cloud. It is shameful, embarrassing and extremely frustrating.
Making reliquaries for these memories allows them to be revisited. Now they can be sturdy in their permanence, unyielding to the haze of memory loss.
