“Sawdust provocateur” AJ Fosik crafts totem-like wooden sculptures influenced by taxidermy, rituals from varying cultures, and folk art. He’s also one of three artists crafting installation projects at SCOPE Miami Beach‘s atrium (Dec. 4-9), marking Hi-Fructose’s 14th year in publishing. Fosik was the cover artist for Hi-Fructose Vol. 18 and was last featured on HiFructose.com here. Below, he talks to us about what’s ahead:
Hi-Fructose: Your work carries influences from varying cultures and religious icons. Do you feel this creates a particularly visceral reaction for certain viewers?
AJ Fosik: I’m not looking for any reaction from any viewers. I’m just trying to carve out my own little version of a dialog with the monsters that haunt humanity.
HF: Can you tell me what initially pulled you into this path of crafting these elaborate creatures?
AJF: Initially? I have no idea, it’s been a long road to get here. Probably some combination of compulsion, a small protest against the void, a genetic strategy to punch through to the next generation, and an attempt to forge an awkward order from the chaos.
HF: What does using wood, in particular, offer you that another material may not?
AHF: I like tree bones. Also there’s not enough risk in painting, every piece I make I put my digits on the line. My lungs are half sawdust at this point.
HF: As far as what’s ahead, can you give any hints on what you’re planning for the project at SCOPE?
AHF: A series of wooden Tulpas including a blind Minotaur and several other manifestations of our struggles with perception.
Read our interviews with Okuda San Miguel and HOT TEA on what’s ahead for SCOPE here and here.
See more of his recent work below.
