The Houston artist Jesse Lott calls his work “urban frontier art.” His sculptures are formed from reclaimed objects that he finds in his Fifth Ward neighborhood. This urban art is a specific technique involving the recycling of discarded urban materials and transforming these thrown-away ephemera into works of artistic expression. The process begins with scavenging where the artist must discern trash from treasure, finding magic in common objects.

Standing on alert with tail and ears perked high, Long Tail Many Horns (1998), is an animal of mythical origins. It displays an elongated snout, muscular body, curled horn, and shortened torso and legs. Here, Lott displays an enchanting and powerful representation of a small unicorn, seemingly domesticated, painted in a light wash of ivory, faint enough to not conceal the natural textures and tones of the organic materials. The creature appears animated, infusing the work with an anthropomorphic individuality, emitting a mysterious presence and a mystical spirit. Perhaps the work can best be understood through Lott’s own words, as he speaks of his art practice when he declares, “There is an inherent power in the presence that is often pointed at by conspicuous absence. Conspicuous absence demonstrates the power of presence.” The fantastical unicorn is historically understood as mystical and prized precisely because it is unseen and elusive.

The artist is one of the seven founding members of Project Row Houses, a local arts organization centered on social practice. Currently, Lott can be found teaching, mentoring, and generally lending a hand at Project Row Houses, or creating art in his Fifth Ward studio. Lott envisioned, created, and participated in social practice artmaking long before it was a familiar presence in the art world. In Lott’s sculptures we are able to visualize the possibility of utopian freedom through the discarded, forgotten fragments of everyday life.