BIOGRAPHY:
Joe Segal was born in New York in 1963. After growing up on Long Island he moved to St Augustine, Florida and attended Flagler College where he studied with sculptor Enzo Torcoletti. Segal graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in visual arts then returned to New York to study bronze casting at The Sculpture Center.
Segal is one of the most innovative sculptors working in Florida, creating compelling art that typically combines wood, manipulated and processed in some way, with steel or aluminum objects. He has been featured in public exhibitions at the Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art (solo show in 2005, featuring prints and sculpture), The University of South Florida, The Cummer Museum of Jacksonville, The Atlantic Center for the Arts, and the gallery at Flagler College in St. Augustine. Public collections in which his sculpture can be found include the Bass Museum in Miami, the Lowe Museum in Coral Gables and the Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art.
In 2000, Segal was a recipient of Fostering Vitality in the Arts grant from the Jacksonville Community Foundation. In 2001 he received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the State of Florida: both of these were related to his sculpture. In 2003 he was awarded another grant from the Jacksonville Community Foundation and in 2004, an Artistic Enhancement Grant from the State of Florida. These last two were in recognition of Segal's experimentation with printmaking.
STATEMENT:
Curiosity of what lies beneath the surface is a common feeling among sculptors who work subtractively, or carve, since working this way exposes the make-up of a particular material. The relationship between the materials that I work with and my actions is the basis for my artwork.
The grain in stone or wood results from years of surviving through various natural cycles. A piece of wood represents the passage through hundreds of seasonal changes; a piece of stone has endured millions of years of heat and compression. The undulating patterns found in these materials are also present in cloud formations and telescopic images of stars. This reoccurring tendency seems to reflect a system that operates on an essential level.
Whether I’m carving a block or assembling fragmented pieces, I use sculpture to echo the repetitive quality found in nature and examine the core of what I’m working with. I am particularly interested in wood since a piece of wood can represent a tree’s full life cycle. Stone represents a smaller section of a much larger cycle. I make cuts methodically across the wood’s grain, imposing a pattern on the material; breaks are made with the grain, letting the wood’s natural pattern respond. I use burning, stacking, scraping and rusting to reiterate the form’s passage through time.
The geometric quality of my work alludes to the rational style in which we approach examination and understanding. It’s ironic that our ability to reason has separated us from nature and we use reasoning to help us understand it. By exploring the essence of the materials that I work with, I strive to unite our need for order with the illusive nature of our environment. This intersection takes place within the most basic element of our existence - the passage of time.
Joe Segal CV
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