Jay Bolotin

Jay Bolotin is an American sculptor, visual artist, and filmmaker. While growing up on a farm in rural Kentucky, Bolotin immersed himself in music and storytelling and made sculptures from fallen trees. Later he studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design and became an apprentice to the late sculptor Robert Lamb. However concentrated his study of fine art, he never abandoned his interest in literature, especially biblical stories and those by the Grimm Brothers and William Blake, all of which have inspired his art. During the 1970s, Bolotin also pursued his love of music while working as a country western songwriter in Nashville. An accomplished musician, he has worked and performed with artists who include Merle Haggard, Dan Fogelberg, Kris Kristofferson, and Porter Wagoner, and continues to perform regularly in the U.S. and abroad. In the early 1980s, Bolotin began making prints. He uses a variety of media to produce those works, but the directness of woodcut appeals to him most. It remains a constant in his practice, which involves the development of complex, ambiguous dramas that feature an array of recurring characters. Bolotin also expands his imagery into performance-based works, including films, plays, and operas. The realization of those productions can take several years; however, their elaborate and meticulous nature prove to be worth the wait. For two decades before creating Limbus: A Mechanical Opera (2001), Bolotin carried a news clipping in his wallet that told the story of a boulder dislodging and rolling into a house, instantly killing the family inside. Haunted by the tale, Bolotin produced woodblock prints of the event, working them into a story that became Limbus. Complete with performers and giant mechanical sculptures, the opera premiered at the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh in 2001 under the direction of world-renowned director Jonathan Eaton. In 2013 Bolotin unveiled the 22-minute film Kharmen. Loosely based on Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen, Bolotin’s interpretation is a dark, surreal digital animation of his graphite drawings. Preceding Kharmen was The Jackleg Testament Part I: The Story of Jack & Eve (2007), winner of Best Animation award at the 2007 Santa Fe Film Festival. The hour-long film is based on a narrative Bolotin created in a portfolio of 40 woodcuts that he digitally photographed then animated using motion graphics software. He later set the digital woodcut film, the first of its kind, to an original score, an operatic soundtrack with a folk music feel.

MacDowell

MacDowell NYC

Studios

Eastman

Jay Bolotin

Studios

Eastman

Share