jessica beels

For Jessica Beels, materials are more than a medium. They’re the starting point, and they often hold the message.

Drawing on found objects and unexpected materials, the Kentucky artist creates sculptures and installations that invite viewers to reconsider their relationship with the objects they use, discard – and often overlook.

Artist: Born in New York City, Beels lived there until she went to college. At Harvard, Beels received a BA in art history but spent much of her time there doing theater (costuming, stage managing, set and props design).

Shortly after college, Beels moved to Washington, DC, where she lived and worked for 37 years, with a two-year detour to earn a

Masters in Early American Culture from the Winterthur Program at the University of Delaware (essentially a curatorial degree specifically focused on the American Decorative Arts collection at the Winterthur Museum north of Wilmington, DE).

But she was always happiest exploring and creating, so from the early 1990s to 2022, Beels pursued her art practice, selling at juried art shows, including the Smithsonian Craft Show.

In 2022, she and her husband moved to Louisville, KY, where she has a studio practice, teaches workshops and shows her work in galleries and online.

Beels is currently a member of Enid Women Sculptors, a Louisville-based group of female artists whose focus is on three-dimensional work.

The group is named after Enid Yandell, a 19th century artist and advocate for women’s rights who created monumental bronze sculptures in Louisville and nationwide.

Studio: Beels uses Material World Studio as her studio and website name.

In 2025, she converted her home garage in Louisville into a studio, with great light, high ceilings, a waterproof floor and space for teaching workshops.

In the beginning: “All of my most vivid childhood memories are about observing nature, doing things with my hands and learning how to make things – from dipping candles to carpentry,” said Beels.

She tried to minor in art in college. But since Beels arrived without a portfolio she couldn’t get into any of the required classes, so she focused on theater instead.

One of the few art classes she took in college was called Projects in Three Dimensions, and the professor, Bill Reimann, was a great influence on her creative process to this day.

“The basic point of the class was to explore one medium at a time and figure out what made it unique with as few tools and as little added materials as possible,” said Beels.

“We played with popsicle sticks, window screening, corrugated paper, dry sand and finally clay,” said Beels, addressing the material’s possibilities first and letting the form demonstrate its qualities.

“It is still a guiding principle of much of my work” she added.

In the 1980s, she started her first art business, making and selling strung glass and semi-precious stone beaded jewelry.

“I discovered a technique of bead weaving that had many intriguing formal possibilities,” said Beels.

In the mid-1990s, Beels decided to take a papermaking class at Haystack School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME. That was where she learned how to make high-shrinkage flax paper that can be formed over armatures.

“My mind was blown and my practice transformed from being primarily a jeweler to a sculptor,” said Beels. “I was back to thinking about how materials worked together and started to create forms that are both mysterious and intensely familiar.

“That technique has been the center of my work for 30 years, with tangential series that explore the same questions about natural patterns and how humans interact with the world around us.”

Art & materials: Handmade paper shrunk over wire armatures, jewelry ($50 to $500) and sculpture ($150 to $3,000).

Found material sculptures, including a series of small birds ($75 to $500) as well as larger sculptures and installations ($300 to $10,000).

Materials include found textiles and paper, reclaimed metals and construction debris. Also natural finds, such as invasive vines and non-native garden fibers for making cordage and basketry.

“I am an accumulator of techniques and a collector of strange objects with a fascination for fiber and textiles,” said Beels. “But I am also drawn to metals and assemblage.”

What’s popular:

Recycled Birds. What started as a fun side hustle – an offshoot of a paper mache and decoupage workshop for elementary school teachers – took off during COVID because the birds were easy to comprehend online, had a good price point, humorous and had appealing themes of conservation and reuse.

“I continue to use it as an excuse to collect odd bits and am thrilled that they appeal to such a wide audience,” said Beels. “It is one of the few types of work for which I take commissions, since people can send me personal items (wedding invitations or labels from favorite wines) to incorporate into the bird coverings.”

Jewelry, made from flax paper over wire, inspired by plants and shells. “Details of gold leaf and pearls add bling but don’t break the bank” said Beels.

Themes:

Biology and math, especially patterns found in nature, as microscopic imagery and growth patterns.
How humans interact with and impact the earth through recycling and conservation.
Cross-cultural patterns and themes, including immigration and interdependence.

Inspirations: So many, but here are a few:

Artists: Alexander Calder, Ruth Asawa, El Anatsui and Ernst Haeckel.
17^th century Dutch and Flemish still lifes and paintings of everyday life.
Mesoamerican stone sculptures.
Traditional and contemporary baskets.

Special commission:

“Flight of Fancy,” a permanent suspended installation at Galway Sustainable Capital, in Washington, DC, in 2024. (pictured right)

The overhead installation of eight branches was made with handmade paper shrunk over piping and wire with 16 birds covered with recycled papers perched throughout. Some of the birds were topical, and related to the company’s eco-conscious focus.

Recent honors:

Washington Sculptors Group (WSG) Tom Rooney Prize for “Bycatch.” 2015. Rooney, a sculptor and educator, was one of the founding members of the WSG in 1984.
Chosen for the 2025 cohort of Louisville Art (LVA) Curate, Purchase, Inspire Program for the “Earth to Earth” installation at Earth and Spirit Center, Louisville.

The installation featured recarved decommissioned gravestones arranged in a Fibonacci spiral as a meditation space on the grounds of the center. (pictured right)

Recent project: “Songbird,” an exhibition of thematic recycled birds to accompany the Kentucky Opera’s run of Songbird in the lobby and library of the opera house. 2026.

What’s new:

“ENID 2026.” Group show by Enid Women Sculptors at KMAC Museum in Louisville. Through November 1.
“Tangents,” a two-person show at Pyro Gallery, Louisville. The show, with fiber artist Bette Levy, includes about 12 of Beels’ recycled birds. Through August 30.

What’s next:

Getting back to teaching and offering new workshops on continuous looping (the Mexican technique made famous by Ruth Asawa’s work), including as an instructor at the 2027 National Basketry Organization conference in Shepherdstown, WV. June 8-13.

Where to buy: Artist website: materialworld.studio

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