USA Projects

2011 marks the final year of my three-year artist residency at the Penland School of Crafts. It also marks the year of my first solo show. Over the coming months I will create a body of work about my personal history with jewelry and my memory of it. This new work will serve as the culmination of my time at Penland and will be exhibited in November at Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco, CA.

The jewelry that has come in and out of my life over the years has had a profound effect on me, and ultimately, fueled my desire to be a jeweler. These special pieces, like the heirloom contents of a jewelry box I played with as a child or the ring that changed my perspective on how jewelry is made, form my history. My new work will chronicle my history as these pieces serve as primary inspiration.

I would like to raise $6000 to cover the cost of the materials I will need to make this substantial group of jewelry. Materials include sterling silver sheet metal and wire, small diamonds, spray paint and other alternative materials. Some examples of the types of materials I will use are 12” x 6” sheets of 24 gauge sterling silver, 10 feet of 18 gauge 18K Yellow Gold vermeil wire, and 20 1.3 mm diamonds. Funding will allow me to achieve my vision for this work without having to sacrifice the number of pieces or the types of materials.

 I came to the Penland residency to explore my studio practice and to discover a stronger artistic voice. I spent the first two years experimenting with technique, process, materials, and design to develop a robust formal vocabulary and aesthetic. This vocabulary encompasses my interest in the layering of line, shape, and negative space. It also includes my use of alternative materials like spray paint in conjunction with more traditional ones like sterling silver. I will spend the last year of my residency creating a body of work using my formal approach as the foundation while adding concept beyond the design.

I believe personal content that stems from my own experience is the key to creating innovative, thought-provoking work. Art history has been an interest of mine for years and I found a natural passion in the history of jewelry when I became a metalsmith. Most recently, this passion has translated to studying and understanding my own history with jewelry. This personal history or memory will serve as my guide for two series of new works. I will create through today’s eyes the contents of a nostalgic jewelry box and respond to experiences with significant jewelry. These new pieces will abstractly represent the originals as interpreted through my formal vocabulary. The collections will be displayed in specific arrangements to be determined once the work is complete.

The first piece I made for the jewelry box series is my depiction of a light blue rhinestone necklace. This necklace was my favorite piece in the jewelry box. The new version includes tiers of metal “rhinestones,” some of which are spray-painted light blue. The shape of the sterling silver components, their color, and the way I have painted them reference the original piece as I have essentially abstracted its key features. In addition to this necklace, I would like to recreate as many pieces from that jewelry box as I can remember.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my project. I hope you will consider helping to fund this endeavor!