Local sculptor to pay for MFA with artwork

Local artist and IU student Joe Masek crashed a party last weekend.

He was too tired of roadblocks to register an official booth at the Fourth Street Arts Festival in Bloomington.

He called Amol India, a client of his, and convinced the owner to let him set up his artwork on the restaurant’s property. 

His largest piece to date, a neon-colored bike rack commissioned by the City of Bloomington, stood on Amol’s front lawn. In the shape of a flaming guitar, a yellow, thorned crown hangs on the neck above a cracked, pink-and-red sacred heart.

“This is me,” Masek said of the piece. “Doing this
piece ... it made me see what I’m worth. I didn’t know I could pull it off.”

Masek said he spent about 180 hours designing, sculpting and painting the bike rack. The project took him a month to complete, and he frequently stayed at his studio until 3 a.m. after leaving his day job.  

He’s working toward a second degree, a BFA in sculpture from the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, before pursuing an MFA in sculpture.

He wants to do what he couldn’t with his first degree in art therapy: teach and create art on his own terms.

Masek occupies two studios, one for painting and one for sculpture, at the Trained Eye Arts Center in Bloomington. He displays his favorite pieces in his sculpture studio alongside spray-painted designs on the walls and an open dock door for trucks.

Though he has painted since he was 12 years old, Masek only started sculpting three years ago.

“Once I got into sculpture, that was it,” Masek said. “I can’t sit still while painting anymore.”

He is normally in his studio from 6:30 p.m. to midnight. He starts his sculpting projects after classes two days per week or after the commercial painting and odd jobs he does on non-class days.

But his schedule can bring him close to his breaking point. He almost quit everything Tuesday night.

The physical and emotional demands of producing art caught up with him when contracts for thousands of dollars for his commissioned works fell through.

“They go all the way through it, and it’s like check time and they’re like, ‘Actually, no,’” he said. “I don’t wanna get rich, but I’d like, you know, something.”

Masek is currently sculpting a flaming guitar. Its chrome skeleton leans against a pale-colored wooden workbench.

He was also commissioned to create a sculpture for the Courtyard Bloomington on College Avenue. That sculpture will pay for his MFA in sculpting.

“I actually want to learn about art academically, intellectually,” Masek said.
He resisted returning to school because more intellectually-minded artists he knew were “stuck up.” But he made friends with artists who were both successful and down to earth, which factored into his decision to start classes.

Masek will soon teach art classes in his studio to children from Middle Way House and foster homes.

His students will start with simple projects: colored pencils, spray paint and maybe simple wood sculptures.

“I was raised in the system and dealt with some jacked-up stuff, so that’s who I’m targeting,” Masek said.

Masek started painting at the same age he began moving between homes with his mom, his aunt and foster parents.

His Mötley Crüe obsession began at the same time and inspired his first sketches. He still listens to them while sculpting.

Often mocked by his friends for liking the band, Masek said Mötley Crüe has sung him through bad breakups, kicking a heroin addiction and, now, a career change.

“They’re still here, and they’re still kickin’ ass, and it’s plain rock ’n’ roll,” he said. “It gives me more motivation.”