Jay Rubinstein
Two Geese
Jay Rubinstein makes wooden mobiles, designed to be as light as possible to enable them to move easily in light air currents. Most, though not all, have been in response to an image in a poem or a story. He gets excited when shown a new idea or a new way of looking at a familiar object and particularly when a striking image is accompanied by some deeper significance.
He says: ”I want my mobiles to be beautiful but also to carry some sense of meaning for the onlooker. I like to think that there’s a sense of quiet poetry in the way that they move. They are delicate looking structures which are far stronger than they look.”
Crafted from natural wood veneers, each piece is an exploration of balance - between structure and freedom, between narrative and contemplation. They move in light air currents, revealing shifting shapes and shadows that aim to tell a story of their own. Although rooted in narrative, the works are equally about stillness: “Their calm, floating presence encourages the viewer to pause and observe. People tell me that they can lose themselves watching them move.”
He makes work where ideas and shapes combine to challenge the viewer with multiple perspectives. Constantly exploring the ways in which mobiles enable a single shape to represent different things depending on viewpoint or distance, sometimes, he says, “images appear and disappear as the air takes the piece. There is even, occasionally, a surprise for me as the final piece moves in ways beyond my intentions”.
Every stage of making mobiles involves exploration and decisions, some of which need to be reversed at a subsequent stage. The colours produced by various timbers, the shapes it is possible to make, and to suggest, along with the stringing of the pieces and the movement available in the final piece, all require deliberation and experimentation.
Dumfries and Galloway