Jacob Lepp

Lawn Props in Full Embrace, 2023

Jacob Lepp (b. 2001) is an artist working primarily in sculpture and drawing. Lepp uses a variety of materials to create works that incorporate quilting and patchwork techniques, drawing inspiration and techniques from the three generations of quilters in his family. Lepp's work considers this quilted or pieced notion in an expanded sense, incorporating a wide variety of scrap materials for his sculptures and utilizing story fragments overheard and personal within his drawing to piece together and create a cohesive narrative image. His work attempts to combat the assumed objecthood of materials and

considers their gesture and intention as they interact with one another and us. Lepp is currently in his 3rd year undergoing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the sculpture program at Concordia University. During his time at Concordia he’s participated in a group sculpture show at the Soft Square Gallery titled Ce qui nest pas qui pourrait être, and was awarded the 2021/2022 Lise-Helene Larin Scholarship in Drawing.

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Lawn props refer to a collection of scrap wood often used by contractors to build improvised structures around construction areas on a smaller scale than traditional metal scaffolding; these are meant to shield where the work is being done or create a safe passage for people. Lawn Props in Full Embrace is an arrangement of sculptural objects conceived around the shared qualities of temporary maintenance structures and pieced blankets and quilts. Lepp’s lawn props embrace this improvisational construction method reacting to one another through their entanglements of draped wool and arched wooden planks. The wool felt has been hand-dyed using natural dye processes to achieve a subtle range of tonal variations within the quilted shark tooth pattern and cascading hose. The supporting plywood elements are all made from found and discarded wood that have been cut and steam bent. These products of necessity are created as protective gestures, both utilizing scrap and repurposed materials to swaddle an object or being and form a barrier from the outside elements. Stripped from their context, their functional capability seeming misplaced in their entwined state. The forms outstretched contorted together one supporting while the other shelters both grappling to the other.