Monday, December 31, 2012

Textile Intrigue - Yu-Ping Lin Jewelry

Laser cut jewelry by Yu-Ping Lin
blends aspects of traditional Chinese
 paper cutting with Japanese origami techniques.

Her Kaleido Collection
  builds repetitive, symmetrical patterns
of kaleidoscopic colors and shapes.
She uses felt, silk and other textiles to
create these elaborate bracelets, pendants and brooches.


 

 
 
 Her Kyoto and Origami Bloom Collections
 feature her own hand-painted fabrics
set into sterling silver.
She explains that each piece is decorated with red thread
 because red is a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture.
 



Prepare to be surprised at the range of work
she has created.
There are dozens more designs to see
at Yu-Ping Lin's website.

 

Friday, December 28, 2012

Retrospective of Enid Kaplan

 If you have the opportunity
to travel in Canada
be sure to visit Montreal to see a
fascinating retrospective exhibition
on the life and work
of Enid Kaplan (1954‐2002) at the

One of the first to apply heat to
 reactive metals like niobium,
Enid Kaplan used form and color in unusual ways.
 It's also interesting to note that many of her 
brooches and pendants 
had a talismanic purpose as she was deeply
 connected to the spiritual side of life.
 
 
 





Not only did she create imaginative earrings
she also found delightful ways to display them.
 

 


Be sure to take a look at Enid Kaplan's website
to see a wide range of her work.
 
currently on view until January 13, 2013.
 

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Exhibition - 40 Under 40: Craft Futures

 
Usually, when admiring jewelry
the work is what matters.
Questions one might ask include,
does it grab one’s attention,
is it wearable, or what is it made of?

 
One does not tend
to think about the artist’s age or
how long they’ve been making jewelry or
when a particular piece was made.
But it’s different at the Renwick Museum
and the exhibit they’re currently showing.

 
To celebrate the Renwick’s 40th anniversary
they've created an exhibition called,
featuring forty artists born since 1972
each showing work created after 9/11.

 
The exhibition seeks to demonstrate the
ways in which craft has changed in the
past 40 years, and how young artists have
interpreted those changes. It includes traditional craft
such as ceramics, jewelry, and metalwork, as well
as sculpture, industrial design, installation art,
 fashion design, sustainable
manufacturing, and mathematics.

 
Invited Participants include:
Vivian Beer, Melanie Bilenker, Jeffrey Clancy, Dave Cole,
Cristina Córdova, Gabriel Craig, Jennifer Crupi,
Erik Demaine, Joshua DeMonte, Brian Dettmer,
Nick Dong, Joey Foster Ellis, Jeff Garner, Theaster Gates,
Sabrina Gschwandtner, Jenny Hart, Sergey Jivetin,
Lauren Kalman, Lara Knutson, Stephanie Liner,
Marc Maiorana, Sebastian Martorana, Christy Matson,
Cat Mazza, Daniel Michalik, Matt Moulthrop, Christy Oates,
Olek, Andy Paiko, Mia Pearlman, L. J. Roberts, Laurel Roth,
Shawn Smith, Jen Stark, Matthew Szösz,
Uhuru (Jason Horvath and Bill Hilgendorf,)
Jamin Uticone, Anna Von Mertens,
Stacey Lee Webber, Bohyun Yoon,


 
 
 





 
 
 
 




 

 
can be see until February 3, 2013.
 
Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Washington D.C.



Friday, December 21, 2012

Exhibition - Cutting Edge: RAM Explores Contemporary Glass Jewelry


It's easy to get bedazzled by glass jewelry.
Colorful, intricate, and skillfully-made glass jewelry
allows light to travel through each component
creating art that seems to pulsate with life.

 
Racine Art Museum is currently showing
a glass jewelry exhibit until February 17, 2013.
is described as,

 
This exhibition represents the intersection
of two important elements of
artistic production—art jewelry and glass. . .
these artists emphasize the flexibility and
variability of glass as a medium for expression.
The exhibition will be marked by artists
using a variety of techniques and exploring
a broad range of subject matter.
 
 
Several of the artists who will be feature
are also represented in RAM’s permanent collection
through jewelry, small objects, or both—artists such as,
Donald Friedlich, Jacqueline Lillie, Linda MacNeil,
Julie Mihalisin, James Minson, Judy Onofrio,
and Joyce Scott.

Others whose works are included:
Dolores Barrett, Patty Cokus, Jane D’Arensbourg,
Charlene Foster, Foster/Malone, Carrie Garrott,
Karen Gilbert, Suzanne Golden,
Gesine Hackenberg, Valerie Hector, Kristina Logan,
Pavel Novak, Barbara Packer, Kait Rhoads,
Joyce Roessler, Erica Rosenfeld, Axel Russmeyer,
Philip Sajet, Melissa Schmidt,
Blanche Tilden, and Jette Vogt
plus the inclusion of
earthenware and fused glass jewelry
by modern maker
Elsa Freund will add historical dimension.



 
 





This show highlights work by artists from
around the world who utilize a variety of techniques,
from glass blowing to casting to beadwork,
in the creation of jewelry.


See more info at Racine Art Museum.

 

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Unconventional - Lola Brooks Jewelry

Lola Brooks takes an unconventional look
at the conventional subjects of Love and Romance.
 
 Her work is certainly not conventional in size -
in fact it’s much larger than one would expect.
 
It’s not conventional in choice of materials -
she takes humble steel then mixes it with gold,
 diamonds and various other gemstones.
 
It’s not conventional in attitude -
her work makes droll tongue-in-cheek references
to clichés about love and sentimentality.
 
In fact, everywhere one looks one can see
 roses attached to hearts, and bows attached to hearts,
and hearts attached to hearts.
 
Why this ardent interest in all things related to romance?
 
There is a good deal of thought behind this work and
 it’s interesting to get the 'why' of the work
while also enjoying the beauty of it.
x
 
For instance, here’s an excerpt from an
 
. . . The past few bodies of work have all spawned
from my fascination with cliché
and my general weariness of irony
and the perpetual abstraction of everything.
I suppose I am a traditionalist in many ways,
seeing no reason to invent something brand new
when there is all of this incredible depth and richness
to be rediscovered in all of these tired old tropes
of love, loss, beauty, perfection, femininity, sentimentality
or in the‘jewel’ or a certain type of technical virtuosity
for that matter. And this is certainly not to say that I am
merely interested in re-presenting these things as they
have always been understood, either. I sincerely believe there
are profound things to be investigated and reconfigured in
these exact territories. And so bows, hearts, knots and roses
among other things are all fair game . . . .








 

 




There's a great opportunity to see
all this unconventional jewelry;
Lola Brook’s work is currently on view at
The Metal Museum until February 17, 2013.
 
 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Aleksandra Vali Jewelry


Aleksandra Vali describes her work
perfectly as "feelings carved into metal."
Her highly-textured work revolves
around experiments with silver
combined with various materials
like gold, shells, diamonds, gemstones, pearls,
corals, textiles, lava rocks, and plastics.


A variety of techniques allows her to
make the most out of these materials
through carving, casting, riveting,
oxidizing, etching and metalsmithing.

 


















I especially like how
the rough texture of the metal
is contrasted by
smooth pearls and other gemstones.
 
to see more of her wonderful work.



 

Friday, December 14, 2012

Exhibition - Beyond Bling: The Artist as Jeweler

Beyond Bling:
The Artist as Jeweler
is currently on exhibit until January 12, 2013
at Claire Oliver Gallery
in Manhattan.

This group show features
 over 30 established and emerging artists.
 
Working in a wide variety of
media, the invited artists utilized all sorts of materials
including mirror, crystal, blown glass, paint,
stoneware, rapid prototyping, collage, photography,
video, precious and semi-precious metals.

Each piece was created as a work of art
that happens to be wearable as jewelry.

 


















To see more of the exhibit
go to the Claire Oliver Gallery website.