Jen Stark’s Amazing Paper Sculptures, Heaven Gallery

Today Justin and I met up with Chris to check out Jen Stark’s work;/a>, on display at Heaven Gallery. I’ve mentioned her work before, and was reminded of her when Liz and I went to check out Brian Dettmer’s books, a few weeks back.

I was pretty excited to get a chance to see her stuff in person.

A black and white piece. Not sure you can tell from my photo, but there were lots of layers and changing depths here. Even moreso than some of her colored paper pieces, this one was mesmerizing because of the high contrast.

I love the way this just sort of hangs off the wall, almost as if the paper just started folding/melting itself.

Detail view.

This one is one of my favorites. I’m not sure what the actual title is, but it has this “bursting” effect going on.

A sideview.

View from the front.

A detailed view of the center.

Another closeup. I could get lost in here.

It still blows me away how far the cuts extend out from the piece.

An interesting cone study, with colorful layers.

Closeup view of the interior.

Chris and Justin, looking in to two of the “peephole” pieces.

Interior 1.

Interior 2.

Interior 3.

Afterwards, Chris, Justin and I were just hanging around outside, talking a bit. We were all amazed at how much time these pieces must have required. While we were standing outside on Milwaukee… not one, but two different people we knew showed up to chat.

First, Matt (aka the Best Barista in the United States 2006) showed up on his bike. He was just in the neighborhood and spotted us milling about. After catching up some, we recommended that he go up and see Jen Stark’s stuff. Soon after that, Christen (from Busy Beaver Buttons) also stopped by… chatted some, and we all recommended she go up to check out the gallery.

Fun afternoon out and about on a Saturday, with some serendipitous encounters with friends. Definitely one of those nice, Chicago neighborhood kind of days.

PS: My pics don’t really do the work justice. Make sure to check out Jen Stark’s site for a real taste of her stuff.