Jori Phillips—assemblage, 3-D art, wearable art

Jori Phillips describes her creative process as a journey with magical companions through strange lands.

“I feel like my inner spirit who makes these things lives in a Frog and Toad world full of weird creatures, and we’re just hanging out and being playful,” she says, referencing the popular series of books for young children.

Jori’s assemblages are made from found, gifted, and salvaged material—broken toys (especially dolls), beads, buttons, books, feathers, fabric, bits and pieces of jewelry, household items, and more. She combines these into unique creations ranging from a six-foot dragon covered in hundreds of individually cut hand-sewn fabric scales to a series of clock people that can sit on a shelf.

Jori grew up on Denman Island and points to the Denman Freestore as a foundational influence on her art. “I started volunteering at the Freestore when I was 12 and never stopped. Nowadays I mostly come in after-hours to organize and clean.”

For Jori, assemblage art is much more than ‘a bunch of cool stuff stuck together.’ Creating works that have artistic depth and sophistication demands skill, artistry, discipline, and commitment.

“I have personal rules, even though they are not written down. For instance, I fully cover space. If the skin is going to be covered in buttons, then all of it is covered in buttons, even parts no one will see.”

Jori often ends up spending tens and hundreds of hours on highly detailed work. “For instance, with the Carrier Pigeon, I decided to cover the legs with little paper beads that I had to make. To do this, I cut out a bunch of tiny squares of paper and crumpled them into balls, and then sewed those little balls on one by one.

“Often, when I have an idea like that, I just try not to think too hard about it, because if I think too hard, I’ll realize how long it will take.”

See Jori’s work on Denman Island: Check with Jori to see if any of her work is on display on the island.