Written by Helen Tootsi
Photography by Charlie Neuenschwander
It can be said that Oklahoma based artist Jay Sage is fiery, perhaps even explosive. It’s a strong statement to make, but it’s not the artists personality in question, but his fascinating method of working with smoke, fire and gunpowder explosions. Coming from very humble beginnings, Sage is an artist who knew very early on that art is something that will stay with him for life. It was a refuge, a place to submerge in his life where one could create from inner most feelings of human nature. “Art has always been there; I just never grew out of it. I got a science kit as a gift once and I thought it was cool, but I grew out of that quick. Ironically, what I do today is very chemical!” shares Sage. Being an artist with no formal education in the field allows him to approach creating from a sense of freedom, creating art for art’s sake. By using regular art supplies in a completely different manner, mixing this with unique set of materials, he creates work that encompasses a little darker, more complicated nuances of human condition.
Sage originally started as an oil painter, creating hyper-realistic, very controlled pieces. A medium that fit his nature at the time yet held the artist back from the creative outlet that allowed him to lose control. It wasn’t until he threw himself into a watercolor workshop that eventually led to working with gunpowder. From water to fire, Sage developed his signature methods and handwriting through pure accident after setting a watercolor piece on fire out of frustration. What he discovered in the process was the beauty of ceding absolute control. The artist uses fire as a paint brush by allowing it to flow yet carefully guiding it across the canvas. For Sage, the beauty lies in that controlled chaos: “It’s all more like a dance. I have an idea and I can lead, but it has to stay fluid throughout the whole process. It’s funny that I came from something as controlled as oil painting to this, but my goal was to master this medium. I wanted to take something utterly chaotic and control it.”
It isn’t only fire that the artist so masterfully bends to his will. He is also giving back beauty to gunpowder which originally was discovered by Chinese alchemists in their quest for finding an elixir of immortality. As history has taught us, gunpowder became a weapon of warfare, a far cry from everlasting life. Sage sees the material as something that can be healing, coming back to its original accidental discovery. He uses gunpowder to return it to its initial purpose of healing people’s souls. In many ways helping the artist and his stories, his soul, too, lives forever through his work. An elixir of immortality weaved into the intricate human condition. And that’s where the artist excels, in that same untamed calculated dance of temperamental fire, uncontrollable explosions, robust tar and delicate gold leaf. His work reflects the artist himself – seemingly contradicting parts becoming one in a beautiful emotion evoking story on canvas.
Aesthetic is important to Sage, but what makes a piece stand out for him is the palpable feeling of something familiar that tugs on the viewers heartstrings when they contemplate his work. A lot of his pieces are darker, both on subject matter and tonality, channeling themes of anxiety, depression, sadness and conditional paradoxes. The artist does not use an abundance of color in his work, but when he does, it always serves a very particular purpose. The combination of lack of color and mood allows the viewer to really notice the focal points of his work – usually eyes or an emotion. It is not about achieving a look for Sage, but to get a realistic feeling across. He will get up close and personal, because that’s the way he operates: “Everything that I create is very personal. Everything. It’s always something to do with my life and what I observe. I focus a lot on human condition. What it is to be human and what it is to be here on Earth throughout all time.”
Themes of his work stem from emotions from personal life, questions weighing on artists mind or from something that the society needs. Whether or not society itself recognizes it. Sage goes deep with every piece yet always dives in with a level of ambiguity, often leaving the outcome open ended. He wants you to feel something special, although it may not always overlap with the seeding emotion. His work is an exploration of one’s own reality, guided by long titles deliberately designed to take the viewer on a journey within. “I want you to feel like it’s something familiar you’ve felt before. I’ve done my job if things start stirring inside. Everything I have painted I have felt, and I think every other person has felt at some point in their lives,” speculates Sage.
With hopes for creating more large-scale work, the artist is solidifying his mastery in controlling chaos. Delicate in line, yet strong in intricate emotion, Sage is a magician in bringing together the shadow and light of human condition, marrying it to earthy and explosive material. He is an artist to watch. With fifteen new bodies of work specifically created for an upcoming show at Winn Slavin Fine Art gallery, it will serve to showcase a wide range of his talent. From canvas to the depths of one’s mind and beyond, Sage’s work illustrates stories from our own past, present and future.-