Getting there...

This is a grouping of some necklaces that I am working on for the upcoming Material Desires show at Craftland. The show opens on February 12th, so I'm going a little mad right now trying to put finishing touches on everything... All I have to do is figure out the hardware!

I've been having fun with this project, exploring reflectivity and color... I can't wait to see these babies under the bright gallery lights! I've gone through three spools of retro-glo for these necklaces... which I never thought would happen!

Love Locks

I just came across an interesting news story about the new phenomena of 'love locks' in Cologne, Germany. Apparently, the officials in Cologne are baffled by the new romantic tendency to padlock 'love locks' on the Hohenzollernbrücke bridge that stretches across the Rhine River.

According to this new custom, couples close the padlock and then toss the key into the Rhine to signify their enduring love. Commemorating the couples’ devotion to each other, there were originally only about 10 padlocks permanently affixed to the bridge, but the number has now grown to the thousands. Some have scratched their initials in the metal locks, while others have gone as far as having them professionally engraved to honor anniversaries, weddings, or other important dates. Apparently, the tradition began in Italy, and has slowly been spreading across the world.

This commemorative act is a very Victorian sentiment, so I found it to be intriguing. I really appreciate the symbolism of jointly sealing a token and relegating the key to the Rhine. The collection has become a physical index of peoples emotions. Aside from the sentimentality of the act, the locks themselves look beautiful on the bridge. I've attached a photo below of a collection of heart shaped locks from The Victoria and Albert Museum, which I though were appropriate to accompany this story. If you want to learn more, I came across an interesting wikipedia page that references other communities that have adopted this symbolic gesture.



Images: top and middle: 'love locks' on the Hohenzollernbrücke bridge; bottom: Gold, enamel, and gem set hear shaped padlock clasp pendants, 1855.

Slash: Paper under the Knife

I just realized that the current exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, Slash: Paper under the Knife, is still up for a couple more months. I can't wait to go check it out, especially after recently seeing Kirsten Hassenfeld's exhibition of cut paper sculptures at the Bell Gallery. It will be interesting to see so many different artists interpretations of this temporal material.

This show is the third exhibition of MAD's Materials and Process series, which examines the renaissance of traditional handcraft materials and techniques in contemporary art and design. Slash surveys unusual paper treatments, including works that are burned, torn, cut by lasers, and shredded. A section of the exhibition will focus on artists who modify books to transform them into sculpture, while another will highlight the use of cut paper for film and video animations.

Slash: Paper Under the Knife is up until April 10th. While there, you should also check out Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection, which is up until the 31st of this month. And, finally, if you go on a Thursday nightyou can head up to the 6th floor to check out the museum’s Open Studios program and get the chance to meet and talk with talented artists as they work.

Top image: Your House, 2006 by Olafur Eliasson

This piece is still in the works... I'm slowing working on some necklaces that have retro-glow knitted around strands of beads. I've been knitting colored thread along with the retro-glo to add some color and strength... But, I'm thinking that this color scheme is a little too subtle. Usually, I avoid colors all together, so this is pretty challenging for me. I'll post more pictures after I complete something that I actually like!

Emily Miranda

I just got a text from a friend, who came across an article from the New York Times featuring the jewelry of Emily Miranda. The text was a picture of the full article, which I've posted below. I'm always ecstatic to see jewelers and fine art jewelry featured in the media, as it's a good way to inform the public about handmade jewelry. This piece of jewelry directly references Henri Matisse's later series of paintings, whose bold shapes and colors I have always been attracted to. The necklace is created from highly polished brass, and is super-opulent looking. I love the non-symmetrical design, and the way it fills the body space. This work is also reminiscent of the jewelry pieces that Alexander Calder made, utilizing the same nontraditional linkage systems, bold shapes, and sense of movement.

If you click on the image below, it should open larger so that you can actually read the article...

BEST HOLIDAY GIFT EVER!

This ring was made by a great design company called Nervous System, and I am totally in love with it! It's made using Selective Laser Sintering, a kind of 3D printing. These forms would be impossible to create by traditional manufacturing methods, and is super light weight. I've had an art-crush on Nervous System for a while, and was completely floored to have been so lucky as to get such an amazing little gift this year. Yay!

Fishing Floats

After my most recent blog post, a friend sent me a link to information about Japanese glass fishing floats. She commented that the necklaces that I have been working on were reminiscent of the floats, and I couldn't agree more! Growing up, my mother actually had a collection of these beautiful glass pieces, which are used to hold fishing nets afloat. The craft of these pieces are extraordinary, and the delicacy paired with the utility of the floats is a poetic conundrum.

Glass floats such as this have been used for decades in Japan to buoy fishing nets used by coastal and open ocean commercial fishermen. Though used in other countries as well the floats produced in Japan are especially well known and collected. Glass floats which are lost at sea will often be found weeks, months or even decades later as far away as Hawaii and the beaches of North America.

Here are some images of the floats:

More from the studio...

Here are two more images from the knit pieces that I've been working on lately. The one that has white beads has been encased in the retroglo... I love it!

From the studio...

I'm pretty excited to have finally gotten all the components together for these new necklaces I've been working one. I am using a knitting machine to knit tube that is then filled with glass beads. The image I've attached is the first one that I have completed, and I have to admit that I'm pretty happy with it. My goal is to make necklaces that are super long, ranging from 6 to 10 feet. I am also going to reintroduce the retroglo thread (made out of tiny glass beads), so that the necklaces will reflect in direct light. I'll post more images as the work progresses.