SCULPTURE:

My work is centered around the beauty of mechanical things, the inadvertent art that occurs when form follows function in the design of devices that work. Objects of remarkable beauty exist, more often than not, shrouded from view in the bowels of machines, instruments, and appliances of everyday life. They come to light in the junkyards and salvage operations where spent things are dismantled, or they are found discarded in streets, roadsides, and fields. I seek them out in these places and integrate them into my work.

Using traditional machinists' tools, primarily the metal-cutting lathe and the milling machine, I combine objects of metal, plastic, wood, and glass in one-of-a-kind designs. Most are several months in the making; therefore my output is very limited. All finished works are struck with my JMS Jaycat Makers Mark (shown at the top of each page), created with the die shown at the right.

AWARDS AND HONORS:

• Awarded first state prize, SC, Fisher Body (Div. GM) Craftsman's Guild Model Car Design Competition five years, 1947-1951.
• Awarded five U.S. patents for carpet devices assigned to Viking Carpets, 1965-1970.
• Awarded two U.S. patents for invention of luggage carrying devices, 1978.
• Awarded Gold Medal NY Film Festival for Industrial Film written and produced for Viking Carpets, 1969.
• Wrote and produced two one-act plays performed at Hudson Guild Theatre, NY 1970.

BORN:

Greenville, SC, 1934

EDUCATION:

• B.A. University of Chicago.
• Studied Design Pratt Institute; Cabinet Making and Machining, NYC Vocational HS.
• Studied Film Writing, The New School, NYC.
• Director R&D Viking Carpets, NY 15 years.
• Retired Executive Director, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, NY 2001. 22 years in investment management.

PRESS:

• Article from Quest Magazine, September, 2007, written by Chris Eastland about John and his sculptures.
• June 23, 1968 New York Times article discussing John's Patent for his Miniature Loom
• Transylvania Times (Brevard, NC) article on John's autobiography Hill of Beans
• Two articles in the University of Chicago Magazine: May-June, 2012 issue discussing his autobiography Hill of Beans and the March-April, 2014 issue discussing his most recent book: Crossing Ethiopia.
• An essay written by John Snyder on how his boyhood on a farm influenced his appreciation for the beauty and utility of found objects
• University of Chicago article from the Summer, 2022 issue on some of John Snyder's sculptures