Jessie Schoenrock
Inside out and all throughout

April 7 - May 27, 2023
Opening Reception April 7, 5-8 PM

Artist Statement
This exhibition is made possible through 1990s emo rock and Rich Schoenrock.
Truly, this show started in 2016, when I made the big choice to go to talk therapy. Each piece of artwork walks hand-in-hand with the work done on my therapist’s couch.

When I first sat there, I was gripped with grief. It was sitting over me like a dark cloud. What I was grieving didn’t matter … I just needed this dark cloud to be removed. A therapist can extract that type of thing, right? After about 10 visits, I asked my therapist when we’d finally see this cloud part. He replied, “Maybe never but that’s not really the point, is it?” I was pissed. It was the point!

Annoyed, I kept showing up. Each time I would expose a little more of myself. Here I am 7 years later, and my dark cloud remains. Only now it’s been joined by old and new parts of me like the ability to play, softness, and a return to making art.

The lesson here is that sometimes loosening the grip of the beast that grips you isn’t the point. Instead, it is to strengthen the muscle that grips it back. And once that muscle is so strong that your grip is the boss grip, you can demand a blessing from the fight.

Most of us walk with a cloud. But we also walk with a blessing. We carry both the gift and the scar. We are all both rough and smooth. Cracked and crooked. Off-center, but full of shine.

All things you’ll see in my pots.

So come look! Consider with me the things that grip you and the catharsis that comes from gripping them back. Imagine brave moves and feel the compassion that is required to cheer for another person's grip, instead of looking for ways to remove it.

This is my nod to therapy, to staying power, and the tough and tender work of walking another back home to themselves.

About the Artist
Jessie Schoenrock is a California-born and St. Charles-raised Creative, currently living and working in her hometown. Jessie has been working with clay for 3 years. In the course of her explorations and dedication to the craft, she's discovered a love for modern and quirky functional ceramics. Her work allows for subtle variations and imperfections that are inherent to handmade pottery. Jessie finds inspiration through her ADHD, her husband and children, and a desire to live life fully and openly. In the last few years, Jessie's work has been shown at local galleries, featured by local magazines, News shows, and drank out of by handmade mug lovers everywhere. 

Inside Out and All Throughout will be on exhibit through May 27th in the East Gallery, the home gallery of the Foundry Art Centre’s studio artists.