Jack Catlett is a visual artist from Louisville, KY, and currently practices in New York, NY. Catlett’s work explores the complex relationship between humans and Nature through the lens of a paralleled esoteric reality he has named the aminal-plane. He works with a juxtaposition of both organic and artificial materials and his works take their form through drawing, painting, sculpture, animation, and large-scale installation.
Statement, March 2, 2025:
Naturally, I chose the most efficient filler material to build the sculpture Becoming Nature, Pt. I. I needed something structural, yet light and affordable, to fill the innards of the nine-foot-tall sculpture, otherwise made from organic material—a toxic spray foam would do!
In my practice I am most interested in exploring the human relationship with Nature. My work is extracted from meditative, psychedelic, and spiritual mind-states which serve as modes for accessing improvisational acts of free, creative play. These meditations and autonomous forms of play are documented daily in my coinciding notebook. They are the keys to unlocking the subconscious reality that I have named the aminal-plane. The aminal-plane exists in parallel with the physical-plane on Earth and both realities become visible when they intersect with each other in the present moment. This is the moment when I am HERE. This is the moment when the aminal-plane becomes real. The ego-less creatures that occupy the aminal-plane operate without the human desire to control. Their humanoid figures are derived from the trees and organic forms that surround their world. They exist freely among Nature, as Nature—they are Nature.
But what is Nature? Isn’t it also part of our human nature to construct the artificial? To have egos and desires? My practice is ultimately an inevitable and ongoing research project: as I explore and observe the creatures that walk the aminal-plane, I come to better understand and share our own universe.
CONTACT ME
502.554.7484
jackcatlettstudio@gmail.com