Doking-Frieze, 2020
Ultra Black pigment and Hardtmuth colored pencil
on duralar and yupo papers, with grommets
22 x 61 inches
$3,400
Doking-Frieze Study, 2020
Ultra Black pigment on duralar and yupo papers,
with grommets
16 x 31 inches
$1,700
In Japanese elementary schools they teach the children (when they are very young) about viruses. This is to motivate them to practice a very high level of personal hygiene (which they do!). A virus in Japan is “Baiking”….and then (as everything in Japan is) “characters” are created to illustrate the “stories” of the travels of Baiking (they actually call him Baiking-chan). Anyway, Baiking-chan has a girlfriend, her name is Doking! (Doking-chan). They quite often are found playing together and generally creating havoc!
Thus….my Doking Frieze (tribute?)
Spending time in Japan, California and New York, elements of Western and Eastern culture weaves itself into Jack Wax’s obsessive, back-painted drawings. Thin lines of ink form delicate patterns both organic and geometric, creating visions of nets, intricate specimens, or imagined cages. Across all works, his subjects are mysterious yet seemingly living; each form conjures natural elements of the land or body, emitting its own personality.
Wax was born in 1954 in the Hudson River Valley region. He received his BFA from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and MFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design (1978, 1983). He has held teaching positions at the Tyler School of Art, Ohio State University, The Cleveland Institute of Art, RISD, and Toyama Institute in Japan. Currently, he is a professor in Richmond at VCUarts, where he is head of the Glass Department in Craft and Material Studies. His work is held in numerous collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum, CA; Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; Tittot Museum, Taipei; Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC; Altria Group and Markel Corporation, both, Richmond, VA.