Burlington College Alum Jesse Fox '15, was named winner of the 2016 NICHE Award in the "Student, Wood" category for his woodworking piece, Dust Trap.
A graduate of the Vermont Woodworking School program at Burlington College, Fox created Dust Trap as a student project. The sculpture, a functional floor lamp standing 4 feet tall, is crafted from a layered-brick-style armature and covered in 210 handcrafted 'scales' made out of douglas fir. A theme of sculptural and organic forms with both real-life and fictional inspirations defines Jesse's current work. The Dust Trapwas inspired in part by the work of Korean sculptor Cha Jong Rye, and Fox's own interest in the fantastical plants and animals of video game artwork.
Jesse decided to entered the competition after seeing flyers about the event posted around the woodshop, "I thought it was worth a shot to enter the contest and I was excited to be selected as a finalist, against a past fellow classmate no less."
Sponsored by NICHE magazine, the awards program celebrates excellence and innovation in American and Canadian fine craft and receives nearly 2,000 entries each
year from professional and student craft artists. A panel of judges including gallery owners, guild and museum directors, curators, craft industry experts and arts advocates judges the pieces, and the top-scoring pieces — 5 in each category — become NICHE finalists. Fellow BC woodworking alum Alicia Dietz '13 was also a NICHE category finalist with her piece, Fallen Soldiers.
Fox credits the woodworking faculty at Burlington College for inspiration and guidance throughout his education,"The woodworking school is a really special place with a friendly, relaxed and creative atmosphere. Before coming here, I thought I was going to only learn how to build traditional styles of furniture, but you can take the skills learned and go your own direction with them, and maybe create something that's never been seen before."
Regarding the creative process which led him to this unique sculptural form, he says, "I believe nearly anything can be made out of wood. You just have to figure out how one step at a time and see what works."
Since finishing the Dust Trap, Jesse has been reproducing and perfecting similar styles of scaled lamp forms and plans to continue exploring woodworking professionally.