Rising generation

J. L. Jensen is a young cutler, born in Los Angeles but transplanted, following his studies, to Providence, Rhode Island (north-eastern part of the USA). His course within the knife world is rather original as well, in the sense he directly passed from higher education into cutlery at the top-of-the-range of this art. This resulted from a deepening of his personal philosophy according to his gifts... and of the remarkable flexibility of the American university system.

Let us summarize. At the end of 1990 J. L. Jensen, graduated from High School as Validictorian. With an interest in photography, he finds The Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia (south-eastern the USA). But within the first half of the year he discovers during an obligatory course on Three Dimensional Design, that this is what truly attracts him. He gives up photography and spends two years taking all the courses which he can in jewelry and sculpture. This university did not have any majors in whch John could complete a full course of study. So he seeks another university that offers a program adapted to his designs and finds Rhode Island School of Design (R.I.S.D.) in Providence, one of best of the USA in this field. After almost a year of formalities and the application process R.I.S.D. is very competitive and selective), John is finally accepted in July 1993. After serious analysis he chooses jewelry, rather than sculpture, because he prefers to have a solid technical base in a concrete field (more especially since he already has a rather broad experience and knowledge on the subject).

He realizes however that his true interest is not in jewelry as a functional object, but rather in the aesthetic and technical elements of manufacture; in the forms to be given to metals or other various materials.

The Revelation

In the summer of 1994 he goes to Europe (Italy and France) to take part in classes on sculpture, which appears essential to him in order to take a break from jewelry (or in the case of knives, after Show!). It is in Pont-Aven, France in Brittany, during the time he was teaching welding in a sculpture class, that he finally arrived at what he had for so long been searching. While welding various materials together, he comes to understand from the observations of his students that his work relates to the sword. It is a true revelation: in truth his work lurked around the realm of knives for a long time, but within in an environment in connection with the body and fashion, nobody saw it. He had hardly returned to the USA, when he met R.I.S.D. alumnus George Dailey a knife maker in the area from which he began to learn the technical aspects specific to cutlery. He and George became friends and from there they both began to devote themselves exclusively to knives. J. L. Jensen even managed to convince the Management of his department at R.I.S.D. to accept him making knives instead of jewelry! And thus in 1996 he obtained hs B.F.A. (diploma of visual arts) in jewelry and metal work. Already, during his studies, J. L. Jensen attended many gallery and cutlery shows, sellng, knives, jewelry and sculpture. Once he left the university he launched out full-time into the art knife market. Sculpture remained however for him an indispensible activity, like another facet of himself. Curiously, he thus produced in 1997 a series of large metal crucifixes, from 150 to 200 kg each, recycling materials he had accumulated in his workshop. He finds with this mixture of knives, swords, and crucifixes not only being "environmental" with the latter, but also having a deeply philosophical significance, a true illustration of the human condition.

As you can see, John Lewis Jensen is not the standard American cutler. On the basis of a philosophical personal search, he arrives at an object in which he seeks to explore all the historical significances, mythological, social, and religious significance by intense formal research and a more elaborate working methodology. To some extent this is on the same wavelength as that of the French-speaking artists Pierre Reverdy and Chantal Gilbert, who have a global solution, more intellectual than the Anglo-Saxons. Let us specify to finish that J. L. Jensen makes upwards of only 12 knives per year!