Since I was a teenager, I have been creating boxes and sculptural containers. I became a full-time artist/boxmaker in 1985, and in the decades since then have made thousands of sculpture boxes, drawing inspiration for my pieces from many sources, including puzzles, mineral formations, and the human form. I work with exotic hardwoods, and the beauty of these materials is part of what moves me. My current work is about the psychological and fantasy realm of architecture, inspired at first by the work of artists such as Giovanni-Baptista Piranesi and M.C.Escher, and then by existing and imagined two-dimensional and three-dimensional architecture.

My architectural work aims to draw the viewer into a world where a sense of scale is lost. In each sculpture box I seek to intensify a specific aspect or emotional quality of the architecture. I’m interested in exploring the dualities of light versus dark and of exterior versus interior, of hidden versus exposed, and of openness versus containment. Mostly I’m fascinated with how different spaces have different emotional feels, and I try to manipulate forms, materials, and light to create an emotional response beyond the initial sense of curiosity.

I take my place in the long tradition of makers of secret spaces. My sculptures are all containers, and this is part of the curiosity and interest that they attract. I feel that as humans we instinctively respond to containers, as we sense that our bodies are containers for the soul, and to know that something has an inside, and that some special thing might be contained there, is more than a pleasing conceit.

PUBLICATIONS

To order either book in hardcover, softcover, or PDF, please contact Jay at jsrbox@aol.com.

RESUMÉ

HONORS & AWARDS

2013              Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Award

2011              Craft New York, Best in Show Award

2005                Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Finalist

2004                Washington Craft Show - Excellence in Wood Award

1999                Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show -

Outstanding Sculptural Objects Award

1996                Society of Arts & Crafts, Boston, MA - Artist Award

1994                Wadsworth Athenaeum Craft Show - Excellence in Wood Award

PUBLICATIONS     (excluding newspaper reviews & articles)

2016              “The Architecture of Subtraction”; J. Rogers, Blurb Publishing

2013              “Fantasy Architecture”; J. Rogers, Blurb Publishing

2004                “400 Wood Boxes”; T. Lydgate, Lark Publishing

2001                “Celebrating Boxes”; P. Lloyd & A. Crawford, Linden Publishers

 SHOWS

2017-18           Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston.

  One man show, “Fantasy Architectures of Jay Rogers”   

2016                Cambridge Artist Association National Prize Show, Cambridge, MA

                        Brookline Art Center, Brookline, MA

Previous    ACC Baltimore Retail Craft Show, Baltimore, MD

                        American Craft Exposition, Evanston, IL

                        Crafts at the Castle, Boston, MA

                        Crafts Boston, Boston, MA

                        Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishing Show, Philadelphia, PA

                        Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA

                        Providence Fine Furnishings Show, Providence, RI

                        Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC

                  Washington Craft Show, Washington, DC

GALLERY AFFILIATIONS

                        Gallery Gráphicas, Nantucket, MA