ARTIST STATEMENT
Jori Jori is an award winning visual storyteller working with found objects and textiles, creating wearable and sculptural art. As a personal mission to make the practice sustainable, the artist works with entirely secondhand, donated and found objects. Finding materials that have more life in them, and keeping them out of landfills. The works are made through meticulous hand sewing over the course of hundreds of hours.
The Carrier Pigeon features a recycled dictionary as the textural element, with rolled and crumpled “beads.” Works from this series are a conversation about dress and adornment as a form of self expression. They ask, if all we had was clothing/a mask, how would we show who we are? They explore “self culture,” mythology, the representations of gender, body and self, and how we are connected and disconnected from the natural world.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Originally from a small Island in B.C. Canada, Jori Jori now lives and works in the foothills of Northern California, and has strong community ties to both countries. Growing up, the artist studied both performance and sculptural art, training in a circus as a child, in film school as an adult, and under her mother (a career potter,) since babyhood. These varied interests and skills all speak to the same desire, to tell and create stories, and as such, the artist refers to themselves as “a visual storyteller.” Jori’s textural style and meticulous sewing is unique, with pieces often containing hundreds of hours of work combining found objects and textile art. This dedication has been recognized with several awards over the last 4 years, including “Grand Jury award” for season 21 at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, “1st place” Lore and Legend at Blue Line Arts, in Roseville CA, Jori has shown their work across the U.S., in Canada, and in Japan, as well as having a piece on permanent display at the “Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Museum,” in Niagara Falls, Canada. Upcoming Highlights for 2026 include: Surreal Salon 18 — Juried show 2026 – Baton Rouge Gallery, Louisiana USA SCG Local Artist in Residence — April 10th – May 1st 2026 – Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA.
© Jori Phillips