Wes Peden

Wes Peden grew up in Rochester, and learned how to juggle when he was very young. Today he has become one of the most inspiring and innovative performing artists in the juggling world. Follow his blog at http://papermacheanimals.tumblr.com/. For more information, check out his website, wespeden.com.

I first saw Wes perform when he was 14 years old at a juggling festival in Buffalo NY. This was six years ago, and even then his style was beginning to evolve into a unique and creative brand of manipulation. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform twice this past week and his skill at performing has become even more refined.

His success is in his balance between skill, performance, and humor. He combines thought provoking sound and content, with the subtle humors of humanity and impressive skill. His artistry is not above his audience, a flaw of many circus performers. He is easy to relate to and expressive on stage. At 21 years old, he has so much more to offer the world.

If you even see just one juggler, you should watch Wes perform.

Upcoming Events.

The official postcard for my show! As a novice photo shop user I'm excited about how much I learned and how well they came out. The show consists of a great group of talented artists and is definitely worth checking out!

Film is not my Medium

Today was the official release of The Strong Jugglers trailer! Check it out!

The Strong Jugglers Go Bananas!

A Tribute to Childhood

When I was very young and living in Pennsylvania I found myself exploring the beautiful indoor/outdoor gardens that make up Long Wood Gardens. I would go for school trips, to see light displays, fountain shows, and fire works. One of my fondest memories, is of their children's garden. Here there were hedges that created mazes and passage ways with water features that you could play in. Simply put, it was awesome!

Last week, I had the pleasure of returning for the first time as an adult. The childrens' garden has been renovated, and certainly did not disappoint! The designers and artists that created it, inspired that same awe in my adult self as they did years ago.Everything was made to scale. We had to duck through passageways to get to secret parts of the garden.

The fountains and statues in the garden created a magical atmosphere.
There was a great balance of aesthetic beauty and playfulness.
These birds blew bubbles into the fountain. Imagine walking through stone passage ways and finding quaint gardens filled with jovial fountains and small nooks to play hide and seek. This is all while experiencing a strong enveloping smell of roses and greenery no matter what season.

Magic.

My Most Recent Artist Statement

This is my most recent copy of my Artist Statement. Feedback is always appreciated about the statement and the title. "Quiet Conflict" is my Senior Thesis Exhibition. It opens April 1st, 7-10pm at the Hungerford building located on the corner of Goodman and Main.

Quiet Conflict explores my frustration and, consequently, the defense mechanisms I have developed to maintain a positive view of society, while focusing on the fragility of character. People are unbalanced, malleable, and contradictory. They are twisted and warped, but maintain the delicate and cherished qualities of personality. While beautiful, they are contorted by their environment.

I try not to see people in a negative light, but the situations they’ve experienced as mediators of who they have become. Unfortunately, people have selfish tendencies and take comfort in their confined perspective of the world. This fills society with conflict, pain, and tragedy that we put upon ourselves. This is a perspective that I struggle with everyday. As a student of psychology, I use predisposition, aversive environments and psychopathology to pardon people of blame. In doing so I explain away the awful actions of both myself and everyone else.

My images are created with a collection of dyed paper, pen, paint, and thread. I use abstract figurative forms to cultivate the nostalgic confusion that society provokes. The handwriting represents my personal process of reaffirmation by repeating phrases on paper that I replay in my mind. The thread is a controlled medium that attempts to bind and control, with limited success, while the paper is subject to the whim of wine, tea, and bleeding ink. Together these represent my internal conflict and struggle to understand, appreciate, and maintain faith in myself and others.

Circumnavigating the Chesapeake

Photos by Courtney Voss