Jill Kyong grew up in northern Minnesota where she often watched her dad make something out of nothing. She took all the wood shop classes she could in high school, even though her teacher questioned, as a girl, if she really wanted to be there.

Jill received her BFA degree from the University of Minnesota in sculpture, focusing on metal casting.

Jill states, “The speed and precision of the table saw, the tool I use the most, supports my style of working which is fast and somewhat aggressive. I try to capture the momentum of an idea before it’s pushed out by another fleeting thought. The intent of my work is to show the duality of an object or event, to deal with subject matter that considers different perspectives being equally strong and equally weak, equally good and equally bad. Accepting that all things have a strength and a weakness, I can realize the empathy that is needed for me to understand that which I find difficult.

If there is friendship, there is loneliness. If there are good choices, there are bad ones. If someone is bad, they probably have some good in them. I create works with strong lines, sharp edges and angles and contrast that with the soft round shapes of wood stones that I make or soft natural materials like shearling. I use personal experiences of my own, and others who share their stories with me, to show there is always more than one side to a story.”