About
Biography
Jessie Katsukin Takamura is a felt sculptor who creates tiny Surrealist artwork that addresses the modern day issues. Behind the kawaii facades are thought-provoking messages; no, they are not all friendly and fluffy. As a hereditary gift from her grandmother who was a seamstress, Jessie started sewing since the age of 7 and spent her teenage years borrowing public library books to experiment, adapt, and practice her techniques. In 2012, Jessie was selected to represent her junior college as an Art Presenter in the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Art and Craft Exhibition. Despite that, she took a detour from her artistic pursuit and obtained a bachelor degree in Early Childhood Education. Fortunately, her obsession with art made her get back on track. Today, Jessie is a fine artist who makes the world's tiniest felt sculptures.
Artist Statement
When we see/hear the term 'art', most of us would relate to paintings and sculptures that are at least the size of your pet cat/dog. Have you heard of this quote, 'Go BIG or go home'? Here's my counter-argumentative quote: 'Go small or go to sleep'. Instead of competing in largeness for significance, I want to make small things BIG. Inspired by the highly talented nano-sculptors Jonty Hurwitz and Willard Wigan, I strive to create the world's tiniest felt sculptures. My miniature fibre artworks are less than 1.0 cm in dimensions, so small that they can fit on your fingernails.
Your next line would be, Why choose felt? Felt fabric is generally easy to use for art projects because they are soft to cut and their edges are fray-free. However, their interlocked fibers will break apart if your felt pieces are too small. Thus, I intend to direct my viewer's focus to this contradiction. My earliest works are flat characters, contributing to Flatface series. Accumulating more falling-flat-on-my-face experiments, I gradually developed my own system of making three-dimensional miniature felt sculptures, as seen in Boring and Collage series. The improvements made in composition and photography are shown in Quotes and Underthink series.
Here's one more problem: my art was boring. I was stuck to mundane objects and derivative characters as my subject matter. Finally accepting my eccentric personality, I switched to Surrealism with a pinch of Dadaism. Combining the standard-sized dolls with Even Tinier ones, I'm creating dream-like and nightmarish sculptures in Are You Crazy? series.
Exhibitions
June 2022 | 'Fill In The Blanks', an independent group art exhibition by The Blanks Fill In
Events
June 2021 | 'Makers' Market', a craft fair by Invade.co
July 2021 | 'Makers' Market', a craft fair by Invade.co
Collaborations
July 2021 | FELTTO by Jessie Katsukin X Cheng Wei Yi, view collection
July 2021 | FELTTO by Jessie Katsukin X Priyadershni Deivakumar, view collection
Residencies
Coming soon
Education
February 2021 - present | The Artist Entrepreneur (by Catherine Orer)
One-to-one private coaching sessions
March - July 2020 | The Artist Entrepreneur (by Catherine Orer)
Online Mastermind Group for Art Businesses
October 2019 - June 2020 | Make Art That Sells with Top Agent Lilla Rogers
Online Art Career Development Courses
2014 - 2017 | James Cook University (Singapore)
Bachelor of Early Childhood Education
2011 - 2013 | Pioneer Junior College
GCE A'Level Visual Arts