Jewels

Video From Fibers Expanded

Here is a video from the recent Fibers Expanded show at the Luke & Eloy Gallery that I participated in. It's footage of a walk through of the exhibition. My piece, Lace Collar, is a necklace made form vinyl table cloth, pearl, sterling silver, and monofilament. You can view it at 0:49 of the video.

STIMULUS

I'm excited to be participating in the upcoming show, The Stimulus Project, at Sienna Gallery. This show is a exhibition of 80 artists producing budget-friendly one of a kind pieces of art jewelry.

This show begins on June 26th, with an opening part on June 27th from 6:00 - 9:00pm. The show will also be available online beginning on July 1st.80

Click on the image to the right to enlarge it.

Established in 1998, Sienna Gallery began representing innovative artists using traditional and non-traditional materials to create handmade jewelry. Now with the addition of a larger space, the gallery is dedicated to exhibiting and promoting exceptional work by artists both emerging and established working in the realm of the object and image both functional and not.

The gallery is located in Lenox, Massachusetts, in the countryside of the Berkshire Hills. The Berkshires, known for their natural beauty and cultural institutions, have been an inspirational home to artists for generations.

From the New York Times

I recently came across an interesting article in the Fashion and Style section of the New York Times. ‘The Jeweler’s Art’ focuses on an exhibition of 12 contemporary art jewelers at The Goldsmilths Company of London. The exhibition, titled Creation II, brings together work by twelve of the most distinguished art-jewelers working in Great Britain.

Traditionally, jewelry making was dominated by famous couture houses that focused primarily on the value of precious metals and stones incorporated into the
designs. However, this exhibition celebrates the rise of the independent art jeweler. Participants in this show articulate a desire to move beyond technical or design challenges and explore stimulating ideas and mediums.

Creation II gives an insight into the mind of the modern designer-jeweler, while focusing on a group of elite craftsmen actively working in the UK today. Open at Goldsmiths’ Hall from Friday May 29 to Saturday July 11 it follows on from the exhibition Creation I held in 2004, which concentrated on silversmiths.

Pictured above: arch ring by Anthony Roussel in birch wood, Pictured Right: necklace by Eric Lopez.

Unexpected sensations

I'm still thinking about the Gijs Bakker lecture that I went to last night at Harvard University. Trained as a jewelry and industrial designer at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in the Netherlands, Bakker is an internationally renowned jewelry and product designer. An avant-garde promoter of cutting edge design, Bakker confounded Droog Design in 1993 with Renny Ramakers, and also founded Chi ha paura…? with Italian gallery owner Marijke Ballanzasca in 1996. Gijs is currently the head of the Masters department at Design Academy Eidhoven.

“Form is just the wrapping of the idea.”

One of the most interesting points that I left the lecture with was the relationship between the object and the human-being; these elements are in constant competition. Or are they symbiotic to each other? I’ve been reading a series of essays on the psychology of objects called Evocative Objects: Things We Think With. This text, edited by Sherry Trukle, articulates the role of objects as emotional and intellectual companions that anchor memory, sustain relationships, and provoke new ideas.

I’ve been seeing the relationship between people and jewelry as much more intricate, these days. Thinking about the unexpected sensations that jewelry can ignite in the wearer, I've come up with a list of commandments for making:

Endless contamination
Experience
Body language
Irony
Simplicity
Familiar, not so familiar
Use it again
Inevitable ornament

Object Fetish

My work can now be found at Object Fetish, an internet store that represents progressive jewelry designers from around the world. Check out my page here, and also be sure to look at what other artists are doing.

Triumph at the Studio

It seems like I have been waging war with myself at the studio these days, so I am very glad to have finally resolved this neckpiece! There were many times during the constructin of this piece, that I thought it would never end... and if it did, the ultimate result would not be a good one. This piece is made out of rubber gloves, sterling silver, and baroque pearls. I found the rubber gloves at a hardware store in England, and bought six pairs! They are the most beautiful rubber gloves that I have ever seen. Not only is the color is amazing, but the interior has an antibacterial coating which not only smells like
synthetic flowers, but also has a beautiful green tint to it which really adds a little depth to the piece.

Featured

My work has been featured on the Crafthaus website. Crafthaus is a online community that caters to contemporary craft artists. It's a great website, because it provides a place for designers and craftspeople to communicate and promote the field of contemporty craft. Crafthaus was created by art advocate, Brigitte Martin, of the Pittsburg gallery, Luke & Eloy.

Stones

In The Studio

I've been thinking about light a lot recently, and how light can activate specific reflective materials. I'm trying to work organically, letting these pieces 'grow' on their own. These pieces will change drastically once they are on the body, but I like the sterile quality of the white palate at the moment. They sortof remind me of jellyfish.