THE ARTIST
H I S WORK
JIM HAKE
AND
Working primarily in clay and porcelain,
professional sculptor and teacher Jim Hake
brings a playful yet sophisticated energy to
each of his pieces. Incorporating a variety
of materials into his art, including wood,
glass, metal and plaster, his work is narrative, an expression of his own unique experiences and the world around him. Currently based in Toronto, Jim has recently
exhibited in several institutions, including
the Gardiner Museum, The Canadian Clay
and Glass Gallery and the Lonsdale Gallery.
Before moving to Toronto in 2008, his
work was extensively on view throughout
Italy and Europe, including Milan, Venice,
Stockholm and London. Having received
his BFA in sculpture at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1990, Jim went on to
receive an MA in sculpture at California
State University in Sacramento (1994) and
an MFA in sculpture at the Henry Radford
Hope School of Fine Arts, Indiana University, Bloomington (1996).
To mark the Bata Shoe Museum’s 20th anniversary, Jim was commissioned to create
an installation for the Museum’s atrium that
would capture the attention of every visitor. He accomplished this brilliantly with
his piece Pump it up. Inspired by the Bata
Shoe Museum’s extensive collection, the
installation, made up of several pairs of colourful high heels, symbolizes beauty and
elegance and references the charged enchantment of cathedrals while at the same
time playing with the kaleidoscopic potential of the forms and materials. Through
colour, shape, pattern and juxtaposition,
these large cathedral shoes go beyond
simplified allusion. The shoes are meant to
embody specific personalities and become
metonymical references to people known
or imagined, people that would enjoy
dancing in a space bathed in light. “The
warmth and intensity of the light that
floods through the southern window reminds me of the way light and colour are
used in places of worship to convey imagery, information and fascination.”
Jim Hake, artist.
Pump it up remains on view at the Bata
Shoe Museum until September 20, 2015.
For more information on Jim Hake or to
purchase/commission artwork, please visit
his website at www.sculpt.it.