Jane Dedecker

Jane DeDecker has been sculpting the human figure for over thirty-five years. She seeks to capture moments that reveal truths about the human condition, that, when stripped down to their essence, are understood intrinsically. As a figurative sculptor, she communicates emotional experience through lyrical compositions that move the viewer. DeDecker’s sculptures stop life in mid-sentence – somewhere between inhaling and exhaling – and gives it form. She tells a story through the simple moments that imprint our lives and define us.

DeDecker was born in Marengo, Iowa in 1961. She grew up with nine sisters and brothers on a family farm, and her art work reflects a connection to nature, both the environment and human nature. As DeDecker works the clay, concepts emerge from memories and observations of life. Impressions of something felt, seen, or heard take three-dimensional form. A family rising with the dawn becomes a spiritual awakening. A woman worn thin by her burdens opens the possibility of a lightness of being. A man managing a wheelbarrow reminds us of the steadfast patience to balance life’s abundance.

DeDecker became a member of the National Sculpture Society in New York City in 1998 and a Fellow in 2007. She has placed over 175 life and monumental sized public sculptures in over thirty-three states. Some of the highlights of DeDecker’s installations include “Harriet Tubman” at the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas; “Albert Gallatin” at the National Park Service in Friendship Hill, Pennsylvania; “Emily Dickinson” at Converse College, in Spartanburg, South Carolina; “Can Can” at the Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina; “In the Wings” at the Robinson Performing Arts Center in Little Rock, Arkansas; “Amelia Earhart” at the Earhart Elementary School in Oakland, California; “Sharing Discoveries” at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; and “Who’s Watching Who” at the Meijer Sculpture Garden in Grand Rapids, Michigan. DeDecker feels honored to be sculpting in a time when communities are investing in art to value what defines their unique history.