Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs (1934-2015) - Biography
Joseph Jacobs (1934 - 2015) Cayuga: Bear Clan creates his narrative-based traditional sculptures in stone, carved in steatite, soapstone, alabaster, limestone, clay and as well as bronze castings
Jacobs isn’t known to have undertaken any artistic work until his occupational life as a laborer ended, due to injury, in 1974, when he accidentally fell off the roof he was working on. A family member said that before his injury, Jacobs made exquisite model cars from kits while another family member recalled that before he became a carver, he made model airplanes out of balsa wood and tissue paper. After the injury Jacobs turned to Iroquois subjects, and the precision and the scope of his work quickly distinguished him. He began selling pieces at the large and well-regarded Curve Lake Gallery in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario in the late 1970s. He worked at a studio there, becoming known to a growing and appreciative Canadian audience and it was not long before he was commissioned by Speaker Jerome of the Canadian Parliament to create an epic sculptural installation for the Member’s Foyer in 1981. The limestone, five-panel work commemorating the Iroquois’ Great Law of Peace took four-and-a-half years to create and is permanently installed in the Canadian House of Commons.
Dedicated to the dynamic vision of Iroquois culture, Joseph Jacobs’ sculptures are inspired by the ancient knowledge and traditions of the Iroquois people. His artistic production breathes renewed life and commemorates the vibrant culture of the Six
Nations. Widely recognized as a genius in the steatite medium, his artistic vision has influenced an entire school of contemporary Iroquois stone carvers.
Notable Awards:
1983 Honorary Doctorate of Law, Trent University 1985 Iroquois Arts Award in 1985 Iroquois Arts Award
1989 The Order of Canada for his contributions to Canadian Indigenous Art Heritage
Collections:
Native American Museum of Art in New York, NY
Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa, ON
Department of External Affairs, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, ON
Joseph Brant Museum, Library Collection at Lanark McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
New College, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON
Artist Specialization: Jacobs’s innovation was to create sculptures that evoke the most complex of Iroquois narratives in single works. The pieces he created, mainly in stone, are complex, though most are not larger than three feet square. Executing them required months of exacting work with various hand-tools; according to some observers, he alternately amused himself or played a sculptural toccata by carving miniature figures in some of the recesses of his larger pieces.
