Jerry Tollifson is a local Columbus, Ohio, Artist and World War 2 Veteran!
At the age of 85 he is currently creating art,
collaborating with many artists and showing as much as he can.
He loves the female nude, flowers, and eclectic, sublime,
paradoxical, collaborative creations with such mediums as
paint, sharp glass, cement, wood, metal and neon. 
He recently had many of his pieces in the 2nd annual Erotic Art Show at Art Pad Gallery.

A good artist always deserves recognition
for their efforts, their thoughts,
and their creations!
So, enjoy the images here of some of Jerry's work.

Thanks for visiting Jerry's Page and Artwork.

All Neon work is by Phil Radke
(who also made Art Pad's awesome sign and butterfly in the front window of Art Pad!)

Titles and Prices are under each photo.
Additional information is available, materials and dimensions.
Visits to Jerry's Woodscape Art Studio in Columbus, Ohio Studio are welcomed!

Jerry's Artist's Statement:
        Jerry Tollifson is a visual artist living in Columbus, Ohio. He has exhibited his work in central Ohio area for over 30 years. He is most prominently known for his pen and ink drawings and electronic prints of flowers and female nudes. Recently he has ventured into a completely new realm- neon sculpture.

        Neon, with its glowing, graceful, hot contemporary look, is contrasted in Tollifson's work with other materials and forms, sometimes with jagged glass; heavy, rough cement; cool metal; or primitive exotic wood. These contrasts become metaphors for life's contradictions, inconsistencies, dilemmas, and ambiguities. In his sculptures, age old oppositions such as love/hate, freedom/order, certainty/doubt, government/free enterprise, spontaneity/tentativeness, health/disease, and unity/diversity are perfectly joined and juxtaposed deepening into visual paradoxes.

        In his series entitled Systems of Paradox, Tollifson aims to combine contrasting forms and materials that coalesce into an aesthetic dialectic. The titles of some of his abstract and non-representational sculptures suggest the paradoxes he presents: "Celebrate the Difference;" Escape from Certainty, Loving the Ride;" Candi's Dilemma: A Healthy Tan or Melanoma?" "Sweet and Sour Flower"; Sharps and Flats, Living the Contradictions;" "The Whole World Loves a Square, Homage to Joseph Albers."

        Implied in each work is a positive attitude toward paradox. As Tollifson observes, "Some people reject, decry, or ignore paradox in their lives. I believe a better way is to make paradox an integral part of life, thus leading one to new creative opportunities. My work is an expression of hope that diversity of apparent oppositions can cohere in a creative tension in all our lives. Each sculpture shows what that looks and feels like. So I say 'Embrace Paradox'." To Tollifson, a paradox of the highest order is this, "By losing our lives in art, each of us will find it."

        His collaborators in making the Systems of Paradox series are Philip Radke, neon artist; Matthew McCormack, glass artist, and Steven Bush, metal artist.


Contact Information:
Jerry Tollifson, Visual Artist
Woodscape Art Studio
PO Box 24352, Columbus, Ohio 43224
614/475-0470  614/270-8468