POP5 Judge Jayne Lilienfeld-Jones
Jayne Lilienfeld-Jones sums up her childhood and creative practice with the mantra “It’s my party, and I can cry if I want to.” The artist can still conjure childlike whimsy and strong emotions and put them directly into her ceramic work.
Lilienfeld-Jones (Chicago, 1952), grew up in a creative South Shore household; her mother an artist and father in advertising. Young Jayne was tuned into Pop-Art (her father was well versed for his work) and Chicago’s Hairy Who (a group of artists in the 1960’s that reveled in grotesque and surreal subject matter). A notebook and daily doodles made a good companion for her ever-expanding ideas and characters. Cartooning was her wheelhouse, and she aspired to be a cartoonist when she grew up. After moving to Glencoe with her family, Lilienfeld-Jones attended art classes at the North Shore Art League. Her time there was truly magical. The smell of oil paints, soft lighting and endless artistic exercises turned her attention to attending college for the arts.
Jayne Lilienfeld-Jones in her studio with one of her ceramic sculptures
The University of Washington was the perfect place for Lilienfeld-Jones to test her creative boundaries in the 1970’s. Metal smithing became her focus; the ability to push the material to its limits really captivated her. The University’s rich ceramics culture also rubbed off on her. Greats like Akio Takamori and Howard Kottler taught or graduated from the school. She was able to take a class created by Patti Warashina (one of her all-time favorite ceramics artists), and felt a strong connection to the material and process. Bachelors degrees in smithing and museum studies set her up for her first job at the Seattle Art Museum.
Lilienfeld-Jones wore many hats at the museum; exhibition installation as well as shipping and receiving of precious objects. The artist was lucky enough to handle many of the pieces that were displayed there. Ancient items from the African continent, (including ceremonial pieces still caked in mud and sweat), textiles and wooden sculptures. The pieces seemed filled with mysticism, and their power made her want to create work with similar energy.
A whirlwind move took Lilienfeld-Jones to Tokyo, Japan for two years. There, she met a talented photographer who opened her eyes to seeing life in different way. Each week, the two would take their cameras and explore the city, visually composing and pushing their creative eye. Kodachrome slides were developed and critiqued, and Lilienfeld-Jones’ confidence and artistic voice took shape.
Back in Chicago in the 1980’s, Lilienfeld-Jones threw herself into hand-building vessels at the Lillstreet Art Center (at its first location). The building, which was originally an old CTA horse barn, was haphazard, with gap-toothed floorboards and a push-broom approach to cleaning. The artist immersed herself into a monitor role there; loading kilns, cleaning up and generally taking part in the creative community. She had her lightbulb moment there, realizing she could break free of vessel forms and explore sculpture.
An apartment off of Lake Shore Drive served as a fresh start and a new studio. The Jane Addams Hull House was conveniently close, its students and volunteers a mix of kind and inspirational artists. Lilienfeld-Jones bounced between there and Lillstreet as she tried to find the right Chicago neighborhood to call home. A passion for life-long-learning lead her to a Masters Degree in Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Chicago, in the early 1990’s. By the early 2000’s the artist was both established at Lincoln Square Pottery Studio - Learning Center as well as working for the Environmental Protection Agency. Her new husband, David Jones (urban and environmental planner), enticed her to move up to Evanston, and she’s been there ever since.
Lilienfeld-Jones worked on her technique and creative process during the fun and but raucous Friday night hand-building class at LSPS-LC. Her job at the EPA made it hard to come in during the weekday time slots, and she started entertaining the idea of having a studio space to call her own.
A better work-life balanced finally happened when Lilienfeld-Jones joined the Strange Art Studios on Darrow Street in Evanston three years ago. The artist became part of an intimate space filled with other ceramicists, painters and wonderfully talented artists. When most people reduced their entire existence to only being home (pandemic restrictions), Lilienfeld-Jones could easily hop over to her space whenever she needed to get out. She found herself there on weekday evening, weekends, and any time in between. The ability to buckle down and see a project through as fast or slow as she wanted really served as a turning point in productivity. Having her own space helped her build momentum, with no stops-and-starts related to putting away projects every day. She was able to start several new series and work through things she just never had the luxury to complete. The sheer amount of sculptures she’s produced in that time have dotted the tall shelves that fill every wall of studio space.
Details from one of Lilienfeld-Jones’s many notebooks she uses for “idea sketches”
Lilienfeld-Jones’ husband, David, passed away after a long illness in 2015. The couple, who had been married for two decades, shared creative lives. David dabbled in ceramics, drawing and printing. Since his death her extra time in the studio has helped her grow creatively, but the loss has left her changed. Her extended family (except for a brother) and beloved aunt Edna have also passed, and this lack of connection has played into her work. Two arresting sculptures in the artist’s studio depict humble and cozy homes that stand enflamed, giving the viewer a feeling of entrapment. The pieces partly came to fruition by her many losses, but also her connection to the Evanston Community Response team. The artist, who is a member, helps the city’s fire and police departments during disasters. She finds the volunteering rewarding and fascinating.
A sculpture of a business man caressing his pet fish, and one of Lilienfeld-Jones’ burning house sculptures
Lilienfeld-Jones’ studio space consists of a large green board work table, and a collection of ceramic characters and objects that immediately demand a viewer’s attention. Giant heads with fervent and campy appeal also project childlike whimsy. The artist has managed to capture something fun but unsettling with the furled lips, wide eyes and wrinkled noses. Lilienfeld-Jones takes the most pleasure in creating her character’s expressions. Twisting and smoothing the clay into smirks and grimaces is an intuitive process, but she does use her idea sketches to set her in the right direction. Unusual hues grace the articulated figures, heightening the emotions already streaming from the forms. Lilienfeld-Jones has really hit her stride with these figures the last few years, each one displaying their feelings more effortlessly. Some of her older work mixes in with the new; objects that have managed to catch the mysticism she once hoped to capture. Soda-fired vessels with African undertones and tree-of-life skulls inspired by work at the Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen are also represented. Pieces that derive straight from the artist’s imagination have a strong presence. A serious looking man caressing a large fish, a naked lady teapot, a giant, casually consuming a man in a business suit. Nothing is too odd or quirky for her to explore and execute.
Lilienfeld-Jones was a social scientist and program evaluator with the Office of the Inspector General that served as independent overview of the EPA for nearly two decades. The artist’s first day of retirement was on August 1st, 2022! Lilienfeld-Jones has big plans for her open-ended retirement time. A return to school to study biology at Northwestern University (“the creative doesn’t work if there isn’t intellectual stimulation”), travel and getting a handle on her artist website are all in the future. New series are starting to bubble up in her imagination, one inspired by Mexican Milagro hearts, the other by an alter her late husband once made of clay. Both subjects are being executed with great detail and personality. Lilienfeld-Jones is looking for museum shops and creative spaces to show and sell the work, something she hasn’t done since she was represented by Aron Packer and the Illinois Artisan Shop in the 90’s. Overall, she just looks forward to being in her studio; absorbing art, science and experiences and reflecting right it back into her own creations.