If you’ve walked past the Lenin statue in October and seen a giant glowing jack-o’-lantern where the revolutionary’s head should be, you’ve encountered the work of Black Jar Follies.
Black Jar Follies is the creative moniker of a Fremont artist whose public installations, parade puppets, and handmade masks have become part of the neighborhood’s fabric. His “Jack-o’-Lenin,” a handmade jack-o’-lantern luminary installed over the Lenin statue each Halloween season from 2022 through 2024, became a Fremont tradition in its own right. He builds three-dimensional sculptural work from paper mache and found materials, almost always with a light source glowing inside.
He’s also deliberately elusive. He won’t use his name. He describes himself as “the caretaker” of Black Jar Follies. And his answers to our questions are about what you’d expect from someone whose artistic universe revolves around flickering lanterns, creepy monsters and hidden hollows.
Fremont Neighbor caught up with Black Jar Follies over email.
FIRST THING FIRST: WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME BLACK JAR FOLLIES?
Once upon a time, a young boy found an old black jar. He turned it around and upside down, but nothing came of it. The boy turned it back up and looked inside, and he was never seen again
That’s not a true story. But it’s not a lie; it’s a gift for fiction. I don’t know what that means, but maybe it provides some context for the story behind “BLACK JAR FOLLIES,” which is basically a catch-all term for my creative work.
I’m really just the caretaker of BLACK JAR FOLLIES. I’ve always been the caretaker. I should know. I’ve always been here.
To say anything more would ruin everything. Next question?
HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN FREMONT, AND WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE?
Well I’m from this area, born and bred, and have bounced around various neighborhoods in Seattle. One time I moved far, far away. My intention, when I came back, was for it to only be a temporary stay. But then something unpleasant happened, and now here I am, still in Fremont, almost ten years later, mostly by accident rather than intention. I didn’t intend to stay here at all. I admit it’s a nice part of town, if you can manage to stay here. But to answer your question: a plane, then a car, but the car was only a rental, so I have to bus it everywhere, which isn’t very helpful when you need to move a giant pumpkin lantern around.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ART PRACTICE TO SOMEONE ENCOUNTERING YOUR WORK FOR THE FIRST TIME?
This is a tricky question for me to answer because it doesn’t feel like a practice to me since I don’t get to practice it as much as I’d like, due to constantly being interrupted by annoying things like survival. So the description I would give to this theoretical person might be more about my process than practice, whatever that difference is.
The things I’d most associate with BLACK JAR FOLLIES for someone encountering it for the first time would be three-dimensional sculptural artwork, Halloween, horror movies, creepy monsters and curious characters with a story to tell- things that lean into the doom and gloom but with a sense of humor too.
Art projects include parade puppets, elaborate costumes, prop objects, public art installation stunts and peculiar figurines, created by using various materials and methods, including paper mache, and often featuring an internal light source.
Salivating tentacles, trepanated skulls, flickering jack-o’-lanterns; if that’s your kinda thing, then you’d probably into BLACK JAR FOLLIES.
In terms of my art “practice”, for me the activity of making something is very instinctual and filled with uncertainty. Ideas usually come from unexpected sources, like, say for instance, parasitic conjoined twins. From the smaller, less dominant twin, sometimes a local call for art will inspire work, same thing with potential funding opportunities, or ideas I have that I think fit BLACK JAR FOLLIES but that other people might also be interested in purchasing. However most of the time, from the larger, more dominant twin, a ridiculous idea with absolutely no reason for existing at all will lodge itself into my brain, haunting me for weeks, sometimes years, keeping me awake at night, distracting me from my responsibilities, but also from anxieties and worries about things I usually have no control over.
Until I finally do something about it.
Sometimes it can be very painful, frustrating, stressful work, especially with the larger parade puppets or public art installations, where there can be a lot of uncertainty regarding the outcome, and going back and changing something or starting over isn’t always possible. But that can also be more exciting and a lot of fun and funny and quite satisfying when it works out. Often, in the beginning of starting a new project, I feel like I’m dancing on the brink of failure. But each year I earn a pinch more confidence as my catalog of work grows.
I get pretty attached to the BLACK JAR FOLLIES things that I make, so really I’m too close to it to be able to describe it clearly from the outside. It’s all fog and tree branches and hidden hollows. But I do enjoy it, and no one can take it away from me (though they keep trying to for some reason).
YOUR PUBLIC INSTALLATIONS AROUND FREMONT HAVE BECOME SOMETHING OF A NEIGHBORHOOD TRADITION, THE LENIN PUMPKIN HEADS, THE SEAHAWKS HORSE HEAD, THE LUMINATA DISPLAYS. HOW DID YOU START PUTTING ART OUT IN PUBLIC SPACES, AND WHAT KEEPS YOU DOING IT?
Funny you should mention the word “tradition”…
I think holidays and traditions are important because they allow communities of people to create meaning and find connection with each other. Halloween, for example, is especially inclusive. “We accept you, we accept you, one of us, one of us”. Public art can function in this way too.
I distinctly remember, as a kid, the first time I put on a latex rubber mask for a night of Halloween trick-or-treating, and suddenly feeling totally anonymous and free to be myself, or a spookier version of myself, someone or something totally different than who I was, without fear of rejection. It was a transformative, uninhibited feeling that I hadn’t felt before in the daylight, and I really liked it. From then on I’d put so much work into my Halloween costumes every year, stressing over them, trying to make them as original and complete as possible, and then the big showcase of wearing them out on Halloween night. This became an annual personal tradition in later years, as I’d pour all my creative skills and effort into large puppet costumes for various art and Halloween parades (ex. Coney Island Mermaid Parades, and Halloween parades in NYC, New Orleans and Portsmouth, NH). So to me the annual Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating in costume as a kid was when I first started putting my art out in public places.
Maybe that’s why I’m fascinated by masks so much, those magical things that obscure and reveal at the same time. Hence, in part, the sobriquet/nom de guerre/misnomer of “BLACK JAR FOLLIES”, I suppose. Also, there’s something mischievously appealing about making an appearance without being seen. Like wearing a mask and costume on Halloween.
Since then my appreciation for Halloween has deepened and expanded. I think in some way it’s a part of everything I make, most obviously with the “Jack-o’-Lenin” installation.
So what keeps me doing it now? That’s easy: The positive reactions people have to my public art installations have been the main thing that keeps me doing it. If people weren’t engaging with it at all, I don’t think I’d keep putting it out there. It’s like a performance in that sense. I enjoy connecting with my community through art. I think that’s an important thing to participate in and maintain, so I’ll try to keep doing it if I can.
And for the record, I make no claims on that Seahawks horse head stunt. Go Hawks.
WALK US THROUGH HOW ONE OF THESE COMES TOGETHER. DO YOU PLAN THEM OUT OR ARE THEY MORE SPONTANEOUS?
First there’s the arrival of an Idea from one of the parasitic conjoined twins (see above).
This is immediately followed by doing the first sketch. Everything starts with sketching things out. For me this is like free writing, which is pretty brainless. I’m just getting lines and images on paper to see what something might look like outside of my head (and away from the twins). And whenever I’m sketching something out I’m always shaping and self-limiting my ideas down into something that I can actually create as a physical thing with my own hands, and with my limited skills, resources and space.
But I like to embrace those limitations, because that frequently forces unexpected creative solutions to pooch out at the seams, which might not happen otherwise if I had unlimited resources and skills.
This is the primary design phase: what I want to see as the final “overall effect”. And I’ll keep editing and redesigning as I go. A lot of my process, like my writing, overlaps and repeats itself.
Once I’ve done some sketching and have a “desired effect” in mind, my brain starts breaking things down into all the necessary steps that will realize the ephemeral idea into a physical, material thing.
Next comes the engineering phase.
Some of my larger, more complicated projects, but even some of the smaller ones too, require significant engineering, and especially weight considerations for the big ones. For these I usually plan things out more obsessively, whether I want to or not. But that doesn’t mean they’re always well-planned. There’s a lot of trial-and-error, guesswork and risk taking as the process moves along.
There can also be a lot to consider in terms of logistics, which has a lot of influence over what gets made. My tiny stink shack doesn’t allow for making giant Lenin statue heads or overgrown sideshow gaff puppets. The JackoLenin couldn’t fit through my apartment door.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE INSTALLATION OR ONE THAT GOT THE BEST REACTION FROM PEOPLE PASSING BY?
By far my favorite installation, also the most satisfying, and the one that has received the biggest reactions from people, has been the JackoLenin (RIP).
The JackoLenin was a giant jack-o’-lantern luminary, handmade by BLACK JAR FOLLIES and facilitated by the Fremont Arts Council (or FAC) (with some maintenance funds in its second year provided by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce), that was installed over the head of Seattle’s infamous Lenin statue in Fremont. From 2022 through 2024, during the month of October, the Lenin statue would be temporarily transformed into the Headless Horseman, and every night the “Jack-o’-Lenin” would light up and shine its festive orange glow, like an autumnal beacon, throughout the streets and alleyways of downtown Fremont, helping Fremonsters celebrate the season all month long in anticipation of Halloween night.
The JackoLenin installation project combined my love of Halloween with an opportunity to participate in the longtime local Fremont tradition of decorating and mocking the Lenin statue.
To my surprise, it became a Fremont Halloween tradition for three years, and received overwhelmingly positive response from the local community. That folks wanted it up there every Halloween season, and we were able to do that for three years in a row, was pretty great.
I’ve had many in-person encounters with people who remarked favorably about the JackoLenin, but one in particular stands out: One evening a couple with their young daughter were out in front of the statue looking up at the JackoLenin, after I had just turned it on for the first time that Halloween season. They told me that seeing it up there in the October night sky “made their Halloween”. I can’t think of a better compliment to have received for that thing. So very satisfying. And I hope the volunteers who helped to install it over those years (Geremy, Cindy, Maque, John, Darren, Karen, Pete and of course Jeff, wherever he may be) felt that same satisfaction and pride, because without them the JackoLenin would never have happened.
It was both a very gratifying and humbling experience for me that we were able to pull the JackoLenin installation off for three years. I’m very grateful and thankful towards the FAC for helping to make it happen at all.
I’d love for the JackoLenin tradition to be rekindled this year for the month of October — either a “JackoLenin II” or something unexpected, but still associated with Halloween, that also makes sense on top of a big human statue (and I have an idea for this which I think could be pretty cool). So if there’s interest from people, let it be known! While it’s mostly not up to me at the moment, as I couldn’t have done it without help from others, if the stars align I’d certainly make myself available to make it happen.
I think there are a lot of people in Seattle who are hungry for more and better Halloweenery in this town, like I am and always have been. I’d love for Fremont to become the center of the Halloween universe every October, and maybe rekindling the JackoLenin tradition can help make that happen for 2026 and beyond.
YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE FREMONT ARTS COUNCIL AND EVENTS LIKE LUMINATA. WHAT DOES THAT COMMUNITY MEAN TO YOUR WORK?
BLACK JAR FOLLIES’ prior collaborations with the FAC, given its Powerhouse community art making space, resources and volunteer base, have allowed me and others the opportunity to make much larger, more public-facing art projects than I could have considered doing on my own, given my limited space and resources. The best example of that for BLACK JAR FOLLIES is of course their help with the JackoLenin.
You mentioned Luminata – such a great event. It happens at the end of every September, and It’s probably my favorite Seattle community art event of the year, as it aligns well with things that BLACK JAR FOLLIES is in to, but also for the degree to which the community participates directly in making all the lanterns and art installations and parading them around Green Lake in the dark. Luminata is the quintessential participatory community art making event in Seattle. And it happens at night, which I generally prefer.
In fact the JackoLenin made its first dress rehearsal appearance at Luminata. My first time doing reed and cheesecloth luminary sculpture construction was making the JackoLenin at the Powerhouse for Luminata 2022 (but the Lenin statue was always the primary target). Since then I’ve been experimenting with other translucent materials, for example recycled foam pipe insulation sourced off of Craigslist, which is what I used to make the “Cosmic Worms” for Luminata 2025.
YOU ALSO SELL PAINTINGS AND MASKS THROUGH YOUR ETSY SHOP. HOW DOES THAT STUDIO WORK CONNECT TO THE MORE PUBLIC, GUERRILLA-STYLE INSTALLATIONS?
I think they both fall into the same BLACK JAR FOLLIES universe, and it’s mostly a matter of scale.
By studio work I suppose you’re referring to things I make that aren’t intended to go up on a pole or a statue for public display. but are more suited for inside a bookcase or on a shelf. I would say those things more often than not tend to be part of an ongoing series that I develop and return to over time. For example my paper mache jack-o’-lantern series and the SnowThings and KringleThings. These are also items that tend to go up for sale on the BJF Etsy shop, but they never start out that way. If people like a BLACK JAR FOLLIES item enough to buy it, that’s great. But that’s an extra thing.
The public, guerrilla-style installations are more like single events or stunts, even a performance, and so can feel a bit more spontaneous, especially the installation part of it. All of my installations to date have been temporary ones. The pieces tend to be larger of course, and so are more forgiving in terms of detail, but more demanding in terms of engineering and weight considerations. And I generally need help from others to pull them off.
But those are the differences. I’d say the thing that connects the two kinds of work is light.
I love putting a source of light into my projects, and building things in such a way that they’re either translucent or they otherwise allow light from inside to shine through. I try to put light into everything I make. Things almost feel dead (in a bad way) or incomplete without a light in them. Like a jack-o’-lantern without a candle. Or like how Frankenstein has to electrify or “light up” his creation so the Monster can receive the spark of life.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW, OR WHAT SHOULD FREMONSTERS KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR NEXT?
I’m glad you asked! As I write this, it’s halfway to Halloween, one of those “thin veil” times of year, which heralds and inspires an increase in BLACK JAR FOLLIES activity. A number of things are in the works…
Did you know that Fremont has an official cryptid? It does, and there is one. It’s called “The Walmooster”. This chimerical beast will hopefully be making its annual appearance soon, so keep an eye out for that one. To learn more about the Walmooster, check out www.blackjarfollies.com/walmooster.
I also have a little interactive art stunt in the works, that might appear near the end of the summer. For now I’ll keep it a mystery, but it’ll be easy to spot (and punch) once the time comes.
Brand new Halloweenery items should be up at the BJF Etsy store sometime in September, unless I get wickedly busy with something else…
Then, of course there’s October and the Halloween season. The time of year when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest, and when BLACK JAR FOLLIES is at its folliest. I’ve already mentioned the hope for a JackoLenin II/rekindling of the JackoLenin tradition this year, in some shape or form. But again, much of that is out of my hands and up to other people.
Finally, one art-related goal of mine is to gather together a small horde of people in fully decked out, handmade Krampus art costumes, and maraude about town for Krampusnacht on December 6th. I’m scheming ways to make giant costume horns, platform hooves and paper mache masks in the tradition of old-world Krampus handiwork. So if anyone else is interested in doing that, let me know.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE FREMONT NEIGHBOR READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU OR YOUR WORK?
First I just really want to thank you for shining some light on BLACK JAR FOLLIES with this interview. We really appreciate it.
I also want to thank you for starting up and running the Fremont Neighbor blog. There’s been a void for a Fremont-centric news source for a long while, so it’s been great to have a specific place to go to for that again, especially given all the changes that are happening in the neighborhood right now.
In case anyone is interested in commissioning something from BLACK JAR FOLLIES- I’m available. I’d love nothing more than to make a light-up creature sculpture of a local bar’s mascot that people can take drunken selfies with. And other things, too.
And to whomever has made it all the way to the end of this BLACK JAR FOLLIES interview, thank you for your sacrifice. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, and wasn’t always pleasant, but it is very much appreciated by me and BLACK JAR FOLLIES, if by no one else.
Finally, there’re a lot of awful, bad things happening in the world right now. Try to be nice to each other. Save your slings and arrows for those other things.
Black Jar Follies’ work can be found at www.blackjarfollies.com, on Instagram at @blackjarfollies and on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/blackjarfollies.
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