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All images © Jessica Drenk, shared with permission

Jessica Drenk Transforms Thousands of Pencils into Organic Vessels

September 27, 2024

Art

Kate Mothes

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Undulating, organic sculptures emerge from thousands of drawing utensils in Jessica Drenk’s ongoing Implements series. Fascinated by the aesthetics and behavior of multiples of mass-produced objects, the artist (previously) chose pencils because of their stackable shape and “the thought that, if I sanded them, I could make a sculpture that drew on itself in the making: sandpaper would smear the graphite while the piece was being shaped,” she tells Colossal.

Implements explores the relationship between interior and exterior, the container and the contained. The inside of each work showcases the out-of-the-box objects, while the outside has been cut and smoothed to reveal lengths of graphite and bare wood.

Detail of “Implement 36”

Drenk has been making sculptures with pencils for several years, and the shapes continue to evolve. One of the challenges of working with the material is the difficulty of gluing pre-painted, non-porous surfaces together. “In response to this, I once ordered 30,000 unpainted pencils to make larger sculptures that could be glued into more dynamic shapes,” she says.

Over time, the Implements series has influenced further sculptures, such as “Speleothem” and “Formation,” in which the pencils compose larger dynamic forms. “In a sense, both aspects of the pieces resemble nature,” Drenk says. “Even the hexagon is found in nature, from beehives to columnar basalt rocks.”

Drenk is currently working on a geology-inspired series called Aggregate that puts junk mail to use, along with wall sculptures made from books. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

“Speleothem”

“Implement 44”

“Implement 73”

Detail of “Formation”

Implements series

“Formation” in progress

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