About JME Merge

The History of JMEmerge

Prologue: JonMarc Edwards is known for his unique and intriguing compression of text. His work looks like Asian Characters only legible... if you read English. JME's work has also been translated into many other languages including French, German, Hebrew, Korean and Spanish.

A year and a half ago, on February 13th, 2007 to be exact, artist JonMarc Edwards was working late in his studio when he finally stepped away from his painting. He realized that the next morning was Valentine's Day and he had forgotten to get something for his wife. JME found himself staring at a 3-D collage he'd composed earlier that month. One of the elements of the piece was a group of red "Love Characters." He fashioned one of the "Love Characters" into a necklace. Not only was the piece a big hit with his wife, it caught the attention of many of their friends, who were soon requesting necklaces of their own. Edwards, who has always believed that art should not be confined to galleries and museums decided to create a jewelry line that would be an extension of his art. A line committed to exploring the beauty and meaning of words (and letters) such as "Love," "Hope," "You," "Soul," "Peace" among others.

Selling at first to friends, and then to local boutiques, JMEmerge is now carried in Boston, Washington D.C., Traverse City, MI as well as boutiques here in Los Angeles, including the ultra-hip, Hollywood trendsetter Intuition, the Larchmont Village landmark Flicka and Silverlake's unique and artsy Yolk to name a few.

With a reverence for the power of text as the basis of both his art and his jewelry, JonMarc is donating ten percent of his net profits to the "Reach Out and Read" literacy program. "Reach Out and Read" (ROR) is a national non-profit organization that promotes early literacy by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud in pediatric exam rooms across the nation.

JMEmerge will continue to come out with new "Characters" as well as new lines of text-based accessories. But no matter how much the company grows, our philosophy remains the same. "In a world in which we are constantly bombarded by infotainment, faux images and sound blasts, JMEmerge is a request to slow down, stay in the moment and contemplate the beauty and power of language. Breathe."

"Let the textual revolution begin!

JME Art

For more information and to view an extended catalogue of work, visit www.jmeart.com.

The Origin of the Monosyble Form : Part 1

Waking up on the floor of my Pico studio in Los Angeles (Circa 1990) my first recollection was the smell of cold wet acrylic paint accentuated by a damp dusty debris laden floor. I pushed myself to my knees, peeled a wet piece of paper off my chest and pulled myself together. I remembered having an "Ah-ha" experience before blacking out... the past few weeks I had been working on a poem that I wanted to use in a painting. The problem had been "how could I incorporate a densely worded poem in such a way that would be interesting "to read" and simultaneously be a pleasurable visual experience?"

My Ah-Ha experience was the realization that the poem I had been working on for weeks had been transformed into a neatly compressed Asian looking "Characters" in which each syllable was now a visually independent legibly (in English) composed abstraction. I now understood that I had stumbled onto a method of painting that would allow me to unite content with form and work in the realm of the Abstract.

Future Installments:

Part 2
The Influences of the Monosyble Form

Part 3
The Monosyble Code

Part 4
Concentric Reverberation

Q & A

Why do you use text or words in your artwork?
JME: My artwork has always been about the conflict between communicating with the viewer and expressing myself as an artist. I use text or words because of their dualistic nature; visually they are abstract while at the same time they contain information; information that evolved over time into language. Language is human's way of interfacing with the world. I see language, words, and letterforms as physical properties (although I am skeptical as to their certainty) and rely on them as a rich source of visual subject matter / material.

Are viewers supposed to read these artworks?
JME: The characters (compressed letters) are there to be deciphered but they are also integrated for other reasons and motivations. If you decide to read or decode the characters that doesn't necessarily mean you have figured out the work. It means you have deciphered the conscious layer. It is always my hope that viewers will use the information to unlock and explore other possibilities, within or outside the canvas. On the other hand, if you don't want to decipher the characters you can still peruse the surface as you would with any painting or artwork.

How did you arrive at composing text this way?
JME: I went to Japan in my early twenties and was immediately overwhelmed by the Character, the logogram. When I returned to the U.S. I slowly evolved a process that finally would become Monosyble, a recipe of five principles that compress, compose and convey content. I also think that constantly moving from place to place during my youth played a big part in this need to minimize space and maximize usefulness.

All work shown on this site is protected by U.S. copyright law and may not be used for any purpose without permission from its owner.