Jessie and Dan are an artist team based in Perth, creating cast metal sculpture and functional homewares within their own workshop.
Jessie grew up in Seattle and had her first taste of metal sculpture while welding together large dinosaur monstrosities of her own design. She studied and obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in rural New York where she found her interest in metal casting. Before long she had found herself in Perth working in the local art foundry, Perth Castings. She and Dan took over the business in 2012 and began developing their own work as "Tug of War Design."
Dan took a different path to this point.
Born and raised in Perth, Dan's interest in art flourished in high school before his focus shifted towards engineering. After meeting Jessie his creative spark started burning a little brighter again and he has been making up for lost time - and enjoying a more creative outlet for his engineering skills - ever since.
In short, you could say we make the things we like. But if you want to know what drives us as artists and designers...
Our work focusses on the exploration of the natural world, and all its facets, through sculpture.
The majority of our current practice is on the study of natural form, and the geometric reduction of this to simple reflections. Complementing this are our more pure explorations, which encompass both lifelike representations and purely mathematical concepts.
Our final pieces are primarily cast metal pieces, as the medium allows the sculptural work to be enjoyed in both a visual and tactile sense. In working on our sculpture prior to the foundry process, our methods are as varied as our concepts and include pen and paper work, clay modelling, computer drafting and 3d printing, and found object arrangement.
When we're not busy making all our things, we're also making things for other people!
We take private commissions for large, small, commemorative, and oddball sculptures. This includes sculptural figures, bas relief, and custom trophy sculptures.
If you'd like to commission a work, or would just like a chat, get in contact and we'll see what we can do.