Masonry Vessel

In all of his work, Joe Zajac strives to “celebrate a creative unity between nature and art.” Masonry Vessel is an ideal example of this concept. Over eons of geologic time, the advancing and receding seas and glaciers provided Michigan with some of its most impressive natural treasures. The Petoskey stone, the Lake Superior Agate and the fossil-laden limestone of the Eastern Upper Peninsula are sought by both resident and visitor. Our beaches are the source of an intimate array of colorful stones laced with copper, iron and quartz. In Masonry Vessel, Zajac reaches across eons to shape the pebbles of our past into a vessel that, in his own words, is “frequently considered a metaphor for the human form. It collects energy and information which can be stored within its form or projected outward.” In commenting on his work, Joe urges us to notice that throughout Michigan’s landscape we can see countless examples of stone construction used to build residential dwellings, storage buildings, bridges and landscape markers. Through all of these and through the special voice of Joe Zajac’s art, we are reminded of the inherent bond humans can bring about between material and form.