Fulcrum is a collection of work by Joel Werring that spans sculpture, painting, and monoprints, each engaging with the themes of materiality, duality, and the ephemeral. In this body of work, Werring delves into the relationships between form and flatness, between intention and spontaneity, and between presence and absence.

"My creative practice resides in the intersections between thought and materiality, where drawing evolves into objects, and meaning emerges through intention and chance. Across sculpture, painting, and works on paper, I'm interested in how materials communicate with one another, generating a dialogue that evolves through each iteration. There is a productive tension I navigate between form and flatness, shape and line, presence and absence. These dualities guide my exploration, allowing me to discover new relationships within familiar structures. I’m especially drawn to the ephemeral, to moments that feel incidental or fleeting, where meaning takes shape in spaces of in-betweenness."

Together, Werring’s sculptures, paintings, and monoprints form a cohesive exploration of duality and transformation. His works invite viewers into a space where the familiar becomes unfamiliar, where boundaries between forms dissolve, and where meaning is discovered in spaces that often go unnoticed. This collection is a meditation on the ways materials and ideas can communicate, generating a dialogue that is as fluid and mutable as the moments he captures. By emphasizing the incidental and the transient, Werring invites us to reflect on the beauty of impermanence, challenging us to see meaning in the subtle, often fleeting aspects of the world around us. Through his works, Werring redefines materiality as something that is not fixed or final but endlessly evolving.

At the heart of Werring’s practice is an exploration of the intersection between thought and material. Each piece begins with a concept, yet evolves through a process that is both deliberate and open to chance. His sculptures embody this approach, blending organic shapes with a restrained geometry that captures the tension between structure and fluidity. These three-dimensional works engage viewers on a visceral level, inviting them to walk around and experience the subtle shifts in form and light. In doing so, Werring’s sculptures blur the line between object and environment, drawing attention to how materials and forms interact with the spaces they occupy. The works feel transient, as if in a state of constant redefinition, mirroring the fleeting moments that inspire his practice.

The monoprints featured in this viewing room provide a glimpse into Werring’s fascination with chance and the unpredictable nature of printmaking. Each print is unique, a one-time impression that can never be perfectly replicated, aligning closely with his interest in the ephemeral. The process of making these monoprints allows Werring to embrace imperfections and incidental marks, letting the materials guide him as much as he guides them. This interaction between the artist’s hand and the materials’ response imbues each print with a sense of immediacy, capturing fleeting moments that feel both intentional and spontaneous. The resulting works are delicate yet assertive, with lines and shapes that seem to hover in a state of transition.

Werring’s paintings offer a different yet complementary perspective, highlighting his sensitivity to shape, color, and line. Here, he plays with the flatness of the canvas, using layers of paint and mixed media to create compositions that are at once bold and understated. His color palette tends to be restrained, allowing shapes and textures to stand out with quiet intensity. In these pieces, Werring often juxtaposes dense, concentrated areas of color with open, empty spaces, crafting a visual rhythm that draws the viewer’s gaze back and forth. This rhythm captures the “in-betweenness” he seeks, evoking moments that feel transient or unfinished, yet filled with potential. His paintings seem to oscillate between revealing and concealing, encouraging viewers to engage with what is present as much as with what is suggested.

Viewing Room

Joel Werring received his BA in Art Practice from the University of California at Berkeley and his MFA from the Yale School of Art. He has received numerous awards, including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Painting. Werring is an associate professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology/State University of New York, where he served as chair of the Fine Arts Department from 2016 to 2019. He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board (visual art) for Peripheries, a literary and arts journal published annually by Harvard Divinity School. His studio practice is based in Redding, Connecticut where he lives with his family.