Artist Statement/ About Me
Materialsmithing
Materialsmithing is my work process.
It is an ongoing search for how to communicate ideas about relationships I see or sense between whatever raw materials lie before me. Since 2009, my practice has been a hybrid of techniques and Materials common to handcraft, plus Metalsmithing, the method I most often employ to create jewelry objects.
Investigating the potential of alternative materials and combining them in unexpected ways is a process of discovery, experimentation, evaluation and revision. I enjoy contemplating collected materials. and patiently smithing an equation from what I see in them plus what to make of them and how to fabricate a well-made place for them. My favorite part of my practice is revealing unseen or unexpected solutions and I am often immensely satisfied by what results..
I work in whatever way the objects at hand lead me to go, and am most satisfied when I have created something that passes beyond traditionally expected gemstone and precious metal. Spontaneous hands-on response to materials enables the objects I make to emerge and evolve as they will, though I cannot easily predict how each day may progress.
I gravitate toward metal and fiber and find them to be artistically appealing and visually rewarding. Creating combinations from disparate or dismissed materials in new and unified ways is an enjoyable part of my work. I strive for intriguing, well-constructed, wearable shapes and forms using conceptual drawing and planning as an object becomes increasingly complex
As a teaching artist, my day-to-day practice is devoted to producing instructional artworks and demo materials using drawing, painting and collage, and having the ability to draw is an invaluable asset for all of my work.
I draw to plan and create preliminary models for 3D work in tandem with intuitive response to mixed materials and I’m thankful for my drawing skill and the flexibility it provides between concept-led and process-led design.
When I fabricate jewelry, drawing is a thoroughly satisfying parallel process. that consistently helps me find the way to show what I want my work to say.