About Ju
Polstra, a native of White Sands, New Mexico, grew up in North Canton, Ohio. Although she studied painting and drawing in college and won honors in art contests, she channeled her creative urges into playing the piano. When a move of households necessitated not having a piano, she turned to artfully decorating discarded clothing mannequin figures with antique buttons, pins, watch parts and an assortment of vintage costume jewelry she found in her travels and inherited from her mother and grandmother . With nothing on TV, a late-night mania prompted the insomniac artist to pose and "dress" the mannequins in a variety of fanciful poses and jeweled "couture" as characters in a story of her own imagining.
Her bejeweled and
buttoned mannequin torsos have become her specialty. Covering their
bodies with precise symmetrical decoration, she also uses spoons, pocket
watches, beads, drawer knobs, doll heads, keys, thimbles, water
faucets, crystals, porcelain roses and what ever else she can cleverly
incorporate in colorful, shiny multiples or geometric designs
that happen to strike her fancy.
It took six weeks
to finish her first mannequin "Miss Nice Knobs" and she became
the first sister to many others. Judy discovered she loved the process
of making them as much as the result. And the highly
original results are spectacular and gaining the attention of
the art world as evidenced by the fact that the clever construction,
"Judy's
Biological Clock"
was accepted in the prestigious annual Hortt Exhibition and Competition
in December, 2002. Now she has struck out into other areas
such as alligators, turtles, and the ubiquitous funky pink flamingo
as well as heads, torsos, and full figured mannequins.
Suddenly, the days
of foraging for items in thrift shops, antique stores, and flea
markets made sense to Judy. "I haven't
yet decided if these pieces are my alter egos or my children," says Polstra of her unusual
artworks.
Proud of her labor-intensive
pieces, Polstra says, "I've tried
to make them very glamorous and at the same time over-the-top.
I think they have some vanity. I hope they show I have a sense
of humor. Maybe they convey a little sexuality that I'm not comfortable
putting out there myself."
Judy is represented
exclusively by RaZoO
GaLLeRy
of Fort Lauderdale. For more information and updates on
Polstra's most recent constructions,
SoHO Show
Rose Knobs
Miss
Knobs
Time Piece
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