Jackson Hussey has been building things for as long as he can remember. As a kid, he actually thought he’d grow up to be an inventor. He liked the idea of solving problems and making things that worked, but eventually, he realized he wanted his creations to do something else: he wanted them to ask questions and exist for their own sake.
The path to fine art wasn’t exactly a straight line. Jackson started out studying graphic design in college because it felt like a practical career choice. But after taking one sculpture class, he knew he couldn’t spend his life behind a computer screen. “Being able to work with your hands is the best,” he says. He ended up switching his focus to sculpture and mixed media at UT Chattanooga, trading software for the physical act of building.
For Jackson, making art is a way to deal with big, existential questions. “It is a desire for reason or purpose, or more so to create your own purpose,” he explains. His philosophy is pretty straightforward: if there isn’t an inherent reason for us being here, you might as well make what you’re inspired to make. This shows up in his materials, too—he gravitates toward reuse and reclamation, giving old objects new meanings.
While at Azule, Jackson found plenty of inspiration in the building and the landscape. “This is the perfect environment to foster creativity,” he says. “This building is so lovingly crafted top to bottom.” He spent a lot of time wandering the space and exploring the surrounding woods, which he says are a must-see for anyone visiting.
Those woods eventually became part of his work. One piece he created during his residency, tentatively titled “Posted,” began with a photograph he took of an abandoned hunting shack about a mile from Azule. The work uses a squirrel as a symbol to look at the idea of hunting for sport and the concept of private property.
The materials for the piece, including the frames, were pulled directly from the woods and the hunting shack itself. “Is this land ownable?” Jackson asks. “That is a relatively new idea created by humans. Did you ask the squirrels if you can have this land?” By the time he left, Jackson had turned those questions into something physical, leaving behind a body of work that truly reflects the environment where it was made.