Sofa NY 2008

Even though the weather feels more like March in New York, it is nearly June and time for the annual Sofa NY show. I found a rather comprehensive write-up of the Studio Jewelry being featured at the upcoming show, so rather than re-hashing, I'll just re-direct to the Art Jewelry Forum website for more information.

Show Applications

Brocade Garland Collar
blackened silver and 18K

When I first started my jewelry collection, I had only the faintest idea about craft shows. One of the first shows I visited was the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show. I had heard that this was one of the premier shows in the country, so I talked a couple of my students into taking the Chinatown bus to Philly with meto check it out. Looking at the show, I realized just what standard I had to seek in my work. My students were adamant that I belonged there, but I knew that I had a lot of work to do, and knew that they were just a little bit biased.

That was in 2002, and I have applied every year since. At first I had a huge amount of optimism, and was crushed when I didn't get in. As I got to more more and more people in the craft world, I realized that this is a show that even the best don't count on getting into. Instead of getting down about it, I used this as a motivation to keep pushing my work. I told myself that I would make work that it would be impossible for the jury to ignore.

Well, the results of the jury were e-mailed yesterday. I was astounded to see that the title of the e-mail in fact said "Invite Notification". What!?! Yes, I have gotten into the show!! It is not until November, but I am already thinking excitedly of all of the fantastic pieces I am going to make for the show. Collectors beware, I am marshaling all of my creative energies to entice you....

Shows in NY

Right now, there are a few shows in NY that I really want to make it to. Hopefully I will be able to go the WIENER WERKSTÄTTE JEWELRY show at Neue Gallery later this week. I would also like to see the Rubin Museum's display of Newari Sculpture and Painting. Also on the list is the Guggenheim exhibit of Cai Guo Qiang , known for using gunpowder in live explosion events. While looking at the Guggenheim website, I came across this jewelry. Hmm.. it always seems that the artistically/architecturally adventurous set has not caught up with the jewelry cutting edge. Compare to this and this.

No, I don't think it is just Tiffany's fancy photography of the Gehry collection that makes it so blah. When the line first came out, I thought that critics were embarrassing themselves by talking about how revolutionary and groundbreaking the collection is.

Back to the topic at hand! The other show that I should have a look at is the Rococo Show at the Copper-Hewitt. I am not so interested in the early Rococo excess, but I am interested in the part of the show that deals with later interpretation of the the style. I most defintely place myself into part of this lineage.

National Geographic, Nepal and me

I was recently organizing my bookshelf a bit and came upon a National Geographic magazine from April 1977. This particular issue, which came to my hands by way of an estate sale, has had more influence on the course of my life than any other piece of writing. My mother had bought the magazines in order to make paper beads, but luckily this issue was spared, and I was able to come upon it on my winter break during freshman year in college.





I had always known that I would want to study abroad, but I somehow knew that going to Europe was not going to be my choice. I sought a more complete re-ordering of my world view. When I read, in this article about Nepal, that the author had to walk three weeks to get to this remote region on the Tibetan border, I almost couldn't believe that such a place still existed in today's world. I thought of all of the things I was attached to in my life and wondered if I could live without for a year. I took it on as a personal challenge of the greatest magnitude.



I didn't walk on this exact trail, but I walked on a few similar to this!

It turns out that I never made it to the specific region (Dolpo), that is mentioned in the article, but I did end up spending two years living in Nepal. Reading it again, I find that it is laced with the seduction of exoticism, but then again, if it wasn't, would it really have gotten a young midwesterner like me to get her first passport, learn Nepali and commit to a year in distant country? The second year was on a Fulbright a couple of years after the first experience.

Painting by Tsering of Dolpo depicting the sacred mountain of Dolpo, called Shey (crystal mountain).

One of the things that strikes me so many years later is that there was a photo of a thangka painting in the original article, and that, as much as the article itself, was what got me hooked. This was my first exposure to Himalayan art, which has been a constant source of inspiration and a subject of study for me ever since. I still love the clouds (and have traced their history through history from the Uighurs to Mongolia to China, Korea and Tibet), and the way that rocks are represented. I did make it to the lower Dolpo valley, which is not a restricted area like the Upper Dolpo region in the article, and found that the rocks really do look like that!!

Ring Around Show

Didi Suydam
aquamarine and topaz

I have just added another gallery show to my schedule for summer 2008. This show is focusing on rings and bracelets. From the wild and unconventional, to the beautiful and elegant. It will take place at Didi Suydam Contemporary in Newport, RI.

Didi Suydam
sterling silver

I have long admired the work of Didi Suydam, so I am very pleased to be invited to show in her gallery. Her work first caught my eye as she is one of the few jewelers to incorporate holloware techniques into a jewelry collection. These techniques involve taking a flat sheet of metal and hammering it over a variety of steel forms to actually compress the sides into a rounded form. It is possible to get a shallow bowl form from pressing the metal into an indentation. However, to get a deep form, such as the piece above, it is necessary to do some very precise hammering. Most people give up after making one piece with this technique.

I am expecting to send some of my new Wrought and Brocade series works to the show, including a couple of new pieces. I promise to get a photo posted as a preview before I send them off to the show.

Self-reflection

Wrought Inlay Ring

blackened silver and 18k

This last month has been one of deep self-reflection. The trials of travelling left me in a state that allowed me to break through all of the busyness of my usual routine to take a good look at what direction I want to take in many aspects of my life. I think this is something I should do more frequently, but since it had been postponed so long, it was particularly protracted.

It always surprises me how long it takes to get back into the creative mode after the intensity of the shows. I am usually on fire with ideas and energy before the shows, but it takes a good month to really get fired up again afterwards. I have been challenging myself to balance these extremes. Creativity manifests itself in many various ways and I wonder if creative people have to accept and work with their own ebb and flow, or if it can be manipulated.

On another note, I have another show coming up this summer. For those that have known me for a while, show usually means retail craft show, but actually, these shows are gallery shows. It is a different way of presenting my work to an audience, one that may be better suited to my new work. The latest confirmed show is at the ARTspace Gallery at the Kohler Art Center. The show does not yet have a title, but it is "an exhibition focusing on works that incorporate objects, paintings and jewelry using highly decorative, rococo-inspired techniques in a contemporary manner".

I also found out that I will be in a touring show next year that I am very excited about, but I cannot share the details quite yet. I will post an update when I can.

Re-Inhabiting

My new booth, and also my home for most of the past month.

Excuse me while I sweep away the tumbleweeds that have blowing through here the last month while I have been away. If there are tumbleweeds here, then you can just imagine the cobwebs forming at the bench as I have been on the road for the last month.

I went to the shows in Philadelphia and Baltimore with a great amount of apprehension, as I was introducing an entirely new line of work. Fortunately, it seems as if I have really been able to present something unique to the world of studio jewelry, yet maintain a continuum of design that carries over from previous work. Both new and previous galleries went with me on this transition. I also was the recipient of attention from many of my colleagues, many of whom had never encountered my work before. As could be expected, my bracelet was the star of the show.



The vitrine with my new bracelet-the star of the show

Upon arriving home, I found out that I am the runner-up for the AJDC New Talent Award, to be presented this summer in New York. That is quite an honor to me. The recipients are selected by members of the organization and they are the star lineup of American jewelry design.





I then travelled to a show in Philadelphia, and with only a brief 36 hours at home, I left again for the SNAG conference in Savannah. While studio jewelers such as myself often feel a bit estranged at this conference, due to it's more academic and conceptual focus, I felt that many of the young college professors were very curious to hear about my experience as a full time maker. While some of the students expressed a distaste for craft shows and those that exhibit in them, they were curious to hear some of my insight into that world.



I was impressed by the high level of work that the students were doing, despite the presence of a few clearly derivative bodies of work. I would like to bring them into the fray and encourage them to join the full time makers. The more of us that exist, the healthier the whole field will be. They have the energy and enthusiasm, and that counts for a lot.



Besides the new clientele that I have gained at the shows, I have potentially been chosen for some exciting opportunities. More on that as they become finalized. In the meantime, I am trying to re-familiarize myself with being a New Yorker (after the charms of Savannah, I forgot that the cabs here WILL run you over!), and with the tools in my studio.