8. Jen Stark

Cultist proudly presents “100 Creatives,” where we feature Miami’s cultural superheroes in random order. Have suggestions for future profiles? Email cultist@miaminewtimes.com with the whos and whys. 

8. Jen Stark 

Most of us aren’t able to do too much with construction paper, but Miami artist Jen Stark pretty much creates the unbelievable. With a BFA in Fibers from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Stark is most recognized for her labor-intense paper sculptures which mirror designs found in nature. “I think geometry, nature, and mathematics have everything in common. My ideas are also based on replication and infinity as well as hypnotic, optical designs that mimic mandalas and sacred objects,” explains the artist.

Stark’s oeuvre of mind-bending work originally began with a summer

abroad trip to the south of France where the artist found a friend in

construction paper due to its bargain price and potential. Eventually,

Stark’s stack of colorful paper transformed into three-dimensional

sculptures which has now expanded to include drawings and animation.

One

of her most impressive and meticulous sculptures, How to Become a Millionaire in 100 days,

includes a mountain of one million pieces of confetti-style paper

achieved through hand cutting 10,000 pieces a day. Stark explains the

thought behind the sculpture: “For this piece I wanted to challenge the

idea of being a millionaire: someone with one million dollars? Or one

million objects? Having one million of something makes you a

millionaire, doesn’t it?”

And

while her artwork might not be worth millions, yet, Stark has garnered a

fan base that includes Miami collectors and comedy sketch artist Eric

from Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

“Eric is awesome! I’m happy to have someone so crazy and brilliant as a

fan of my work. I don’t officially collect work, but I have little

drawings from artist friends,” says Stark. As an artist who has

exhibited extensively, Stark continues to find inspiration in her

hometown explaining, “There is so much amazing stuff going on but still a

lot of room to grow, which is exciting.” 

1. List five things that inspire you. 

-FREEGUMS
-Outer space and how what we see is in the past
-The Florida Everglades
-Kaleidoscopes
-Super friends & family

2. What was your last big project? 

A huge 9 ft. x 6 ft. sculpture made out of paper that dripped down the wall at SCOPE Art Fair in Carol Jazzar’s booth. 

Next

is a 2-person show at Show&Tell gallery (Toronto) with amazing

artist Maya Hayuk. We’ll be doing collaborations as well as our own

work. Also, I’m doing an animations for one of Dan Deacon’s new tracks.

He is a genius musician/composer from Baltimore who has great live

shows.

 
​4. Why do you do what you do?