‘Material Defects’: The Strange Mutations of Jeff Herrity
Jeff Herrity's porceline creations are cute, playful, and spry but are also infused with underlying menace.
Jeff Herrity arrived at art late in life. The Fairfax native was working in “corporate America” when, at the age of 48, he decided to pack it in and enroll at Washington’s famed Corcoran School of Art. “I was like the afterschool special,” he laughs. “I was the old guy in class with the 18-year-olds.”
The career shift paid off, and Herrity eventually realized his artistic vision. He began working with a “huge collection” he had amassed of vintage molds of animals, religious icons, and cherubic angels but with a strange, somewhat macabre twist. “I pour different parts [of the molds] and then cut them up and reattach them to other pieces.” He likens the approach to creating “misfit toys.”
The final porcelain figurines — which often feature spot glaze and, on rare occasions, color — are striking. They’re often cute, playful, and spry but are also infused with underlying menace. A Jesus with the head of a bunny. Two headless elk bodies violently fused at the necks in something out of a David Lynchian nightmare. Standoffish minotaurs teeming with gay sensuality. Grinning bunnies with far too many ears.
Herrity says the pieces in his current exhibit, “Material Defects,” now at Transformer, were inspired by the way AI produces images that add appendages where none should be. “What I kind of love about AI images is they’re great with the focal point, but on the edges, they’re a little bit messed up,” he says of the exhibit’s driving concept. “With AI, there’s gonna be a wrong leg somewhere.”
He sees AI as an inspirational tool, not the means to the final product. “AI can do so many things for us, but AI will never have hands,” he says. “It can’t pour molds. And AI can’t sit at a potter’s wheel and throw clay.”
Material Defects is on display through March 8 at Transformer Gallery, 1404 P St. NW. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., or by appointment. Call 202-483-1102 or visit www.transformerdc.org.
See more of Jeff Herrity’s works in the scroll below:
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