Bob Jenkins, “The Cheetah”
This work made its Princeton debut at the “9 Decades and Counting…” show, an exhibition hosted at the Arts Council of Princeton’s Taplin Gallery in early 2022 and curated by artistic director Maria Evans. The exhibition featured the work of artists Jane Adriance and Bob Jenkins, both in their 90s, and highlighted the work which Jenkins created in 2021.
The following Artist’s Statement appears in the catalog for the “9 Decades and Counting…” exhibition:
“Ever since I can remember, I always liked to work with my hands. In high school at Bordentown, I studied carpentry and learned how to make houses and buildings on 1/2″ and 1/4” scale. After I studied architectural design at Pratt, I found a job as a model maker at an architectural firm. From there I branched out to study sculpture using wood, clay, and stone. When I moved from New York City to Princeton, I did not have enough space to continue sculpting with wood and stone so I learned to work with papier-mâché. I had a chance to hone my skills as I taught after school classes for children at the Arts Council. Working with children making three-dimensional objects became fun for me. They came up with such creative ideas and were so excited when they completed their projects.
“I enjoy working at home on my life-like animal sculptures from the inside out. I start with the skeleton cut from corrugated boxes that I find at the hardware stores. Then I wrap the skeleton with chicken wire to give it strength and stability. After the chicken wire, comes the newspaper and wheat paste-mixing the wheat paste in water and dipping the newspaper in the mixture. Using this technique, I cover the whole chicken wire skeleton with the newspaper mixture. After several layers of the newspaper, I use my secret recipe for the final paste over the animal. Once that dries, I sand it down and paint the animal according to its own identity. It makes me feel good to create animal sculptures from tigers to turkeys. Creating these creatures has never been so easy or so much fun.”
About Bob Jenkins:
Bob Jenkins studied painting and sculpture at the Arts Students League and the National Academy of Fine Arts in New York City. He has exhibited his work both at schools and in private group shows in the metropolitan area. He teaches at the Arts Council of Princeton and works with other artists in after school children’s programs and private schools in the Princeton area. He also works as a volunteer at Princeton Community Television as a camera man, director, and producer.