Artist Interview: Jacob
Piece by Piece: Exploring Jacob Van Loon’s Vision Behind Lead Shot Stars
Written by SOONNESS / December 2, 2024 / Profile photo: a section of Lead Shot Stars
We are excited to introduce Jacob Van Loon, a remarkable artist whose intricate, geometric style brings a unique dimension to the 1000 piece puzzle in our recent release.
Known for his signature style that merges geometric precision with organic flow, Jacob’s art is shaped by a deep curiosity about the spaces and stories around him. Growing up in Illinois, he was drawn to architectural details and the hidden layers of history—elements that continue to influence his approach to art today. In our interview, Jacob opens up about his early inspirations, his evolving process, and his hopes for how puzzlers will experience his Lead Shot Stars puzzle.
Personal Life & Early Inspirations
Where did you grow up, and how did your surroundings shape your artistic vision?
I didn’t start synthesising my surroundings until a little later on - Living and working at the Ellwood-Nehring mansion in DeKalb, Illinois as a resident marketing assistant and caretaker in the 2010’s is what opened up my thoughts to minute architectural detail and hyper-local histories as a source of influence.
Photo above: Ellwood Mansion (Credit: Brandon Bartoszek)
Can you share your first experience with art?
One of my first memories related to art is seeing Duane Hanson’s Janitor sculpture somewhere in Milwaukee as a young kid and being scared of it and kicking off the entire conversation of why artists create what they do. Less pointedly, there were two instances where I questioned works of art as a very young kid.
Photo above: Duane Hanson’s Janitor sculpture and a visitor posing next to the artwork (Credit: Jonathan Lurie)
I remember seeing an autumnal landscape painting at a fair of some kind and wondering how the painter was able to calculate the placement of every individual leaf in the trees. My mom was with me and pointed out that not every physical leaf needed to be accounted for, rather the artists’ interpretation of the landscape was what I saw in the painting.
Even further down in my memory was seeing a painting, probably from the 16th or 17th century in the vein of Bruegel, portraying a devil-like creature with a giant mouth where its stomach should have been. It appealed to the side of me that would become haunted by biblical end-times stories in my adolescence. I’ve never been able to find the specific painting again, if any of your readers have a clue please let me know.
Artistic Journey
Your geometric, abstract style is striking. How did you develop this unique visual language?
An art instructor I had just before I hit my teens pointed out in as many words that almost everything there was to draw could be broken down into ellipses and circles. The base structure of all objects is linear like that, for me. I think narrative-driven visual art can easily become heavy-handed and limit the scope of interpretation sometimes, so I often come back to abstract, repeating motifs to leave some ambiguity on the visual plane. Make of my drawings what you want.
Image Above: (Top) The Prismatic II (2021), (Middle) Lead Shot Stars Series- Beulah’s Home On The Range (2018), (Botton) Lead Shot Star XI (2015)
With a series like “Lead Shot Stars”, how do you decide on your color palettes?
Conventional painters palettes revolve around primary and secondary colors, however light-based colors are dictated mostly in RGB which I find to be more attractive in execution, with paint. I still have a lot of internal torment over the use of Yellow-Violet. Way too loud for me.
How has your artistic process evolved over the years, from your earlier works to what you're creating today?
Detail and the overall scale of detail has tightened and shrunk in my work since I started working with grid-based drawings in 2010. I’m a process-driven worker so being able to assemble detail-oriented motifs is personally gratifying but sometimes at odds with the conceptual drivers behind the work. It’s not that this direction is unsuccessful, but its sustainability is a factor in future works.
Image above: Arbor Volume I Series- 8th & Main by Jacob Van Loon (2015)
What drives you to create? Is there an internal motivation or external influence that keeps pushing your art forward?
The impetus is natural, I’ve always felt a desire to flesh out ideas in my head, visually. My parents were always supportive in this area and allowed me to explore possible venues for creativity while I was growing up. I’m grateful.
Image above: a pencil sketch of Lead Shot Stars by Jacob Van Loon
Puzzle Art
Many puzzlers will spend hours engaging with your artwork during their puzzling session. What do you hope people experience or feel as they assemble “Lead Shot Stars” in 1000 pieces?
Assembling this drawing as a puzzle has a direct correlation to how the drawing was made. Lead Shot Stars and the other drawings that come from this series are assembled piece by piece; similar to constructing a puzzle and finding groupings to build up and later connect.
Have you ever thought of your art as puzzles? How did you feel when Soonness approached you for collaboration?
Soonness was the first time I felt confident in collaborating with a puzzle maker because the curatorial expertise and overall process is mutually beneficial. It’s an exciting way to connect with a dedicated hobbyist community. I’m honored to participate and hope you all have a great time working on this puzzle.
