New episode with Jaya Schuerch: Living Stone
Our latest episode is out now
Co-founder of Studio Pescarella near Pietrasanta, Jaya was born in California, moved to Switzerland with her family as a teenager, and later lived in Hawaii where she worked in papier-mâché, lava and basalt. In 1986 she came to Carrara attracted by the marble quarries. Jaya says ‘it’s important to me that my sculptures feel alive, pulling out the aliveness in the stone, showing the absolute connection that stone has for me with life.’ Below, Jaya stands behind one of her sculptures which has a strongly ‘veined’ appearance.
Jaya Schuerch, Living Stone, 2020 at Studio Pescarella
At one point in the interview Jaya explains how she experiences the difference between the white marbles of Italy, Greece and China. We also hear how important it was for her to learn skills from the artisans of Pietrasanta when she first arrived.
Physics, gravity, black holes and planetary motion have long been a source of inspiration for Jaya, perhaps because of her background. As well as art, she also studied engineering, biology and botany. The theme of suspension is important to her as a metaphor for the tensions of life. In Exploded Spheres, a series of works seek to describe the release of tension. Below, a larger scale work, Suspended Cube, shows how the tension in the cables keeps everything suspended.
As always, you can see photos that accompany our episodes on our website materiallyspeaking.com or on Instagram.
Enjoy listening.
Sarah Monk
producer, Materially Speaking