Art Jewelry Forum is a strong independent advocacy group for the advancement of art jewelry.  Members are a knowledgeable blend of collectors, gallery owners, curators, makers and various other interested parties. The AJF web site and blog is rich with all kinds of interesting information and some of the most current thoughts about the field of art jewelry.   The groups’ passion for art jewelry is expressed in all that they do.

Recently, artists who happen to work in polymer and collect polymer art jewelry have been the focus of two interviews.  This has put polymer based jewelry onto the radar screen of AJF.  Polymer is part of the ever expanding list of alternative jewelry materials that are here to stay.

In conjunction with the exhibition “Overlay” at Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, AJF founder, former gallery owner and collector, Susan Cummins interviewed Steven Ford and David Forlano.   While some of their answers will be familiar to those who know of F/F, the conversation provides a basic introduction to their background, the nature of their collaborative effort and what they are thinking about now.  In addition there are a number of images of some less photographed work.  Read the interview.

Damian Skinner, a often provocative writer, curator and another important voice in the Art Jewelry Forum organization, spoke to Elise Winters about her experiences as a collector.   Within the interview Winters addresses why she did not see herself as a typical collector, and of her goals and the collection process.   Winters and Skinner offer a very quick intro to polymer for readers unfamiliar with the medium as well as a discussion about the concept of setting standards.   Find it here.

From either interview it is easy to move into the AJF website and blog.  Both are well worth frequent visits.

Kathleen Dustin, Blue Layered Fragment, 2011
polymer, sterling silver, oil pigment, goldleaf,
micro glitter, embossing powder  4”h x 2 3/4”w x 1/2”d

Kathleen Dustin had a memorable third week of April.    While she has exhibited at the Smithsonian Craft fair a number of times before, this year she won The Gold Award.   Dustin’s work has been highly noteworthy for many years, so what in particular caught the three judges’ attention this year?

Perhaps it was a new body of non- representational work Dustin calls “Layered Fragments”.  In this recently debuted series of brooches and segmented necklaces, Dustin applies pigment directly onto polymer to create an abstract composition.   She enhances this surface design with applied metal leaf, glitter and embossing powders.   Around each mini painting there is narrow black polymer frame.   Linear inclusions of sterling silver wire play off elements of the composition.  Appearing both within the main focus area and then extending beyond the frame into the surrounding space, these graphic accents both complement the design and provide contrast.

The hard, white sheen of the silver wire counters the soft painterly appearance of Dustin’s polymer surfaces.  In her “Blue Layered Fragment” brooch the irregular coil of silvery-white incised line at the top overlays a loosely defined oval area of yellow.  This clean linear accent helps to define the area and simultaneously create an illusion of of depth.   The rounded shape echoes the arc of the frame as well as the sparkly green oval that appears towards the lower left edge.   At the top, silver wires burst through the frame providing a sense of upward energy.  The origin of this upward spiral movement appears in the lower area of the brooch.  Here opposing zigzag lines present a stable but energetic hatching which like a trampoline, bounce vertical components -the serrated gold leaf detail, black X and the sequence of yellow and cadmium red strokes on the right- towards the top.  That all of this energy seems to balance on the point of an asymmetrical ellipse, only adds to the dynamics of the composition.   Dustin’s use of color, which transitions from a cool blue violet at the base to warm gold tones at the peak, furthers the effect.

This brooch, which appears so casual at first glance, presents a deep understanding various elements of composition.   And, as your mother surely told you, making a positive first impression is always important.

Ford/Forlano, Full Pillow Necklace #11, Side A
2009,  polymer, sterling silver   15 x 13 x 3/4″

Ford/Forlano’s Full Pillow Necklace # 11 (2009) has been in big demand.   After being on loan to the Racine Art Museum for the Terra Nova exhibition, it just landed a permanent home at the Newark Museum, in Newark, New Jersey.   Last October, Newark Museum curator Ulysses Dietz met Steven Ford and David Forlano in Racine, Wisconsin at the Terra Nova opening and symposium.   While RAM became the central focus of the polymer collection project, The Newark Museum was also a beneficiary.   Dietz selected 42 pieces of polymer jewelry which became part of the Museum’s studio jewelry collection.  Within this body of work, there was a small, early work by Ford/Forlano, then known as City Zen Cane.   Since making that brooch, Ford/ Forlano began to collaborate with a silversmith, Maryanne Petrus, so that they could incorporate metal components into their work.  This concept is of special interest to Dietz as an example of combining metal jewelry fabrication, once a prime industry in Newark, with a modern interpretation of the inset jewel –here made with polymer.  The idea is exemplified by Ford/ Forlano’s, Full Pillow Necklace #11, which was acquired as a Gift of Dr. Francis A. Wood in Memory of Rosetta Miller.   Dietz writes that this purchase seems especially appropriate in that Mrs. Miller, whom he knew, liked to wear large jewelry and would have “adored” this new necklace.

Full Pillow Necklace #11 Side B

Ford/Forlano’s piece, while quite big, is wearable.  It was modeled by Petrus at the Philadelphia Museum of Art runway show called ‘Jewelry in Motion’.   This event was in conjunction with the SNAG 2009 conference and took place in the grand staircase hall.   The necklace is totally reversible with patterns designed by Ford and forged by Petrus into the flat silver sheet before doming.   Two hidden clasp hooks enable it to open but in reality it slips easily over one’s head and can be worn in any direction.   Both the large scale and the wire work were inspired by a show of Alexander Calder‘s jewelry which had been exhibited at the PMA in 2008.

Dietz is the Senior Curator and Curator of Decorative Arts at the Newark Museum.  His range of interests and expertise is broad, but his keen eye and love for the decorative arts has enabled him to assemble a distinguished collection of objects for the Museum.   For Dietz, jewelry is a natural extension of the decorative arts.   He has actively collected jewelry, both historic and contemporary, for the Museum over the past 20 years.   Jewelry is a notable part of the decorative arts collection at the Newark Museum because from 1850-1950 Newark was the center for 14K jewelry making in the United States.   (Dietz organized and co-curated the 1997 exhibition on the jewelry making industry, ‘The Glitter and The Gold:  Fashioning America’s Jewelry’.)   In addition, the Museum has a significant collection of contemporary craft which expands easily into the area of studio jewelry.

In August of 2009, the Museum opened a new gallery devoted to jewelry.  Named after its donor, the Lore Ross Jewelry Gallery is a permanent place for Dietz to highlight the “gems” in his care.   The Museum’s holdings include work from the 1600’s to present day and the Lore Ross gallery offers perpetual exhibition opportunities.  For Dietz, the connection between how a piece was designed and fabricated and the resulting interaction of this process with real people in real life is an important element of his collecting and exhibition philosophy.   Like all art forms, jewelry tells the story of its maker, its times and its public audience through both the acquirer and the observers.  It is part of what makes jewelry such a rich field of study within a larger context of decorative arts.

Tory Hughes, Armillary,1992
polymer, steel, glass, brass, silver, mustard seeds
13″h x 15″w x 1/5″ d

There are few better ways to frame a face than with a distinctive necklace.   Beyond being decorative, the necklace itself often provides clues about power, status, or some symbolic meaning relevant to the wearer.   The Museum of Art and Design (MAD) in NYC recently opened an exhibition of necklaces from their permanent collection entitled, “Hanging Around:  Necklaces from the MAD Collection”.  The necklaces on display present a range of interpretations on the concept of a necklace and the use of materials.   Artists include well known names in art jewelry such as Robert Ebendorf, Arlene Fisch, Marjorie Schick and Kiff Siemmons as well as late 19th century-early 20th century anonymous pieces from Morocco and southeast Asia.   Within this mix, the museum included three examples made of polymer by artists Steven Ford and David Forlano, Victoria Hughes, and Cynthia Toops.

City Zen Cane/ Steven Ford and David Forlano
Flat Necklace, 1991, polymer, 2″h x 25″w, x 3/8″d
City Zen Cane, now Ford and Forlano’s 1991 “Flat Necklace” is an example of their distinctive cane work.   One of the early examples of CZC’s  masterful mix of pattern and scale, it presents a sampler of the teams’ cane patterns from ikat effects to the shadow pipe/tubes, but all executed within the constraints of a black and white color scheme.

Hughes Armillary detail

Victoria (Tory) Hughes’ “Armillary” of 1992 combines polymer with other materials such as brass and steel wire.  It was designed with celestial navigation in mind in that an armillary is intended to represent the relationships between the orbits and positions of celestial bodies.   As a necklace, the piece suggests that the human head, and by extension the human mind, is the center of the heavenly rotation.

Cynthia Toops, Billy by the Riverbank (detail), 1995
polymer, 32″ overall, each bead 2″h x 2″w x .5″d

The third example is Cynthia Toops’ “Billy by the River Bank” from 1995.   This necklace is a prime example of Toops’ lentil bead shape and graphic cane work along with three of her signature micro mosaics as best seen in the “Billy” bead.   Toops carved a series of unique patterns into the opposite side of each lentil and then backfilled the design to create a smooth surface and a totally reversible necklace.   The overall color scheme suits the idea of a marshy river bank with its subtle plays of tonality, as well as being suggestive of the Pacific Northwest where Toops resides.
These three necklaces are excellent examples of different directions taken in polymer art during the early half of the 1990’s.  One hopes that MAD will continue to add more current examples to their collection.   For more on the MAD exhibition click here.

Louise Fischer Cozzi, Necklace Belt ii, 2008
polymer, silver,  41″ long x 1½”w x 3/16″d

Looking back sure does give us some interesting perspective. Recently I ran across the 1992 Exhibitors Catalog for the American Craft Council’s annual show in Baltimore.  Only 3 polymer exhibitors were listed there: Martha Breen, City Zen Cane (aka Ford/Forlano) and Grove&Grove.  Although each of those exhibitors made jewelry, they were found under the mixed-media category, rather than jewelry.

This year at ACC Baltimore, you will be able to see the work of 10 polymer exhibitors - that’s a whopping 233% increase - oh how I love statistics!  The show runs February 24-26, 2012 at the Baltimore Convention Center.  Visit these exhibitors and you will see lots more than just jewelry.  Look for wall sculpture, boxes and bowls, as well as furnishings and fashion accessories.

Rachel Carren
Louise Fischer Cozzi
Kathleen Dustin
Mary Filapek & Lou Ann Townsend:  Mary & Lou Ann
Susan Fleischer: Casual Elegance
Steve Ford and David Forlano: Ford/Forlano
Wiwat Kamolpornwijit: In-Boon
Karen Kozak
Loretta Lam
Karin Noyes: Yellow House Studio

Cynthia Toops, A Bashful Young Potato, 1997
polymer, 2 3/4″ x 2 3/4″

Who would have guessed that the winter of 1997 would become especially significant to polymer history?  Let’s look back 15 years to the Winter 1997 “PolyInformer”, the newsletter of the then 6 year old National Polymer Clay Guild , to see what was happening.

The front page announces the first NPCG conference “Making History:  Pushing the Craft of Polymer Clay” at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.   Wanting to go beyond a presentation of new polymer techniques, Steven Ford and Jeanne Sturdevant planned the September 1997 conference with a particular focus on exploring relationships between polymer and other areas of craft.  Techniques and cross-over ideas from woodworking, fiber, printmaking, metal, ceramics, were to be examined in relation to polymer.   The conference included wood worker, Dan Peters, fiber artist, Janice Everett, printmaker, Maggie Aston, metal-smith, Chris Hentz and ceramicist, Will Truncheon.  Some of the featured instructors in polymer were: Kathleen Dustin, Steven Ford, Cynthia Toops and Pier Voulkos.  A juried exhibition, “Recent History of Polymer Clay” shown during the conference included Cythina Toops’ wall piece (above).

On page 10, there is an introduction and a full schedule for the MIPCES show, the Masters’ Invitational Polymer Clay Exhibition and Sale to be held that May at the Old Church Cultural Center in Demarest, NJ.   The brain child of Elise Winters- what would be her first of many- this invitational exhibit of experimental works brought together both masters and emerging artists in an effort to promote the medium to a larger audience.   Educational workshops, sales and general public outreach were key components of the concept.

Not solely devoted to future happenings, the newsletter also includes some post-event comments by Tory Hughes, “Reflections on Ravensdale”.   This seminal 1996 gathering in the Seattle area became the first of a series of nationally attended conferences sponsored by the NorthWest Polymer Clay Guild.   Ravensdale was a highly organized event with a full schedule of discussions, critiques, demos, and an exhibition.   In an effort to help provide focus after the intensity of the Ravensdale experience, Hughes wrote about personal intention, quality workmanship, polymer legitimacy and its integration with other materials.  She even addressed the need for an academic curriculum.  These themes are as relevant now as then.

Big picture polymer philosophy is presented in a discussion by Carol Shelton on what to call the amazing new medium.   Shelton makes the argument that using name brands is confusing and all varieties should be known uniformly as “polymer clay”.  As evidenced by a recent PAA post, the topic of nomenclature is on- going.

And there was more…..

Several pages are devoted to the always challenging problem of how to photograph your work.   The technology of photography has changed dramatically over the past 15 years, but the need for high quality images has not.  Photography is likely to be an increasingly crucial component of professional presentation as more opportunities, juries, exhibitions and collections move on- line.  Not surprisingly, concepts of professional presentation were an important topic of discussion at the RAM symposium in October 2011.

To round things out, there is a brief glimpse into Sandra McCaw’s technique for subtle shifts of graduated color which she already was employing in her dimensional-looking quilted canes.   Coincidentally, a “how-to” of the “Skinner Blend” technique had debuted in the prior issue of the PolyInformer (Fall 1996).  A profile of artist, Sue Patterson, an interview with ornament maker Sharon Sahl, registration info and the form for the already annual Shrinemont retreat in Orkney Springs and the usual notices of local guild meetings, workshops, etc. completed the issue.

It is interesting to contemplate what might be in another 15 years.

Follow these links for more information on Arrowmont, and MIPCES.

Nancy Banks, Necklace, 2006, polymer, wire

The Mingei International Museum of Art show, “New Jewelry in a New Medium”, includes the work of 64 artists.  This exhibition evolved out of work acquired by the Mingei from Elise Winters’s Polymer Collection Project and the absorption of the Bead Museum formerly of Glendale, Arizona.  Many of the less familiar names relate to the early years of polymer exploration.

Here is the list:

Dan Adams and Cynthia Toops, Jamey Allen, Kathleen Amt, Deborah M. Anderson, Nancy Banks, Meisha Barbee, Louise Belcher, Shellie Brooks, Donna Carty, Jean Comport, Dan Cormier, Katherine Dewey, Grant Diffendaffer, Marcea Donovan, Dayle Doroshow, Kathleen Dustin, Celie Fago, Janet Farris, Lori Feiss, Steven Ford and David Forlano, Galdieri, Gwen Gibson, Kathy Gregson, Dorothy Greynold, Ruth Ann Grove, Michael Grove, Lindly Haunani, Amelia Helm, Jean Hornberger, Tory Hughes, Joanne Hunot, Marie Johannes, Donna Kato, Kaz Kono, Klew (Karen Lewis), Z. Kripke, Jacqueline Lee Cherie, Sandra Lentz, Christine Leu, Laura (Oakes) Liska, Margaret Maggio, Barbara McGuire, Cheryl Michell, Linda Pederson, Carolyn Potter, Marion Quinn, Lorraine Randecker, Margaret Regan, Nan Roche, the Rouse House (Mary Rouse), Marie Segal, Rudi Sennett, Ileen Shefferman, Sarah Shriver, The Sisters of San Francisco, Liz Tamayo, Jan Twink, Pier Voulkos, Liv and Joy Waters, Andree Weinman, Elise Winters.

“New Jewelry in a New Medium”, Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, through June 17, 2012.

Polymer, polymer clay, FIMO, Sculpey, Premo, Katoclay, Cernit?   Have you ever wondered how and why this colored, synthetic modeling material got its common name?   Prior to 1990 both artists and publications describe the material using a brand name like FIMO or polyform with a modifier such as “modeling compound”.  There is no mention of either “polymer” or “clay”.   Then in the late 1980’s Nan Roche began to write her groundbreaking book, “The New Clay”.   As she tells it,

Both the term “New Clay” and the term “Polymer Clay” were not used anywhere else by anyone prior to my book.  Both names were devised by me and Seymore Bress to have a new way to describe a “new” material and make it possible to refer to all the clay brands with one descriptive term.  The use of the word clay is referring to the way the material is worked. The use of the word polymer is the result of my investigation into the identity of the material. Initially, artists & users were not aware of what the material was made of.  The companies did not describe it as a vinyl chloride polymer in their literature.

With the publication of Roche’s book in 1991, the term “polymer clay” began to be used widely and continues to this day.

Over the past 20 plus years polymer has evolved as a product, has achieved worldwide use, and has generally become better known.  Polymer art is now included in the collections of major American museums and artists who work with it routinely exhibit at premier shows.   Is it time for the terminology to evolve again to just “polymer”?   For museums and galleries this eliminates internal and public confusion over classifications.  Polymer art does not belong with their ceramic collections.  It may be that there will eventually be a category for plastics or alternative materials in which case polymer is one of the various synthetics.   From a utilitarian point of view, the use of the material has become increasingly diverse so that many of the clay-like qualities are secondary to what artists do with it.  The term “clay” also leads to confusion in the retail market.  Customers who hear the word, “clay” often assume that an item is heavy and fragile, neither of which is true.   However, using the word, “polymer” alone frequently elicits the question, “What is it?” and provides a moment of education.

As polymer art moves forward in time, the term, “polymer clay” is unlikely to be abandoned, but the single descriptor, “polymer” could be embraced as a clarified and simpler description of this material.   And, the question of identification probably will continue to be refined.  As Roche recently asked,

I wonder if, as we become more sophisticated in our terminology regarding plastics in art, that the more precise descriptor will be vinyl polymer or that the term will just remain “polymer” which of course describes all the other plastics?  It’s an interesting problem as we move into the 21st century and the use of art materials broadens.

Pier Voulkos, Bracelet, 1995, polymer
1  3/4″ x 3″, Gift of the Bead Museum, Glendale, Arizona
Photo by Tim Siegert

“New Jewelry in a New Medium”, an exhibition of polymer art opens today on the Balboa Campus of the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, California.   The show focuses on individual beads and beaded adornments such as necklaces and bracelets.  The art work on view came to the Mingei through the efforts of Elise Winters and her Museum Collection Project and from the collection of the Bead Museum formerly in Glendale, Arizona.    This exhibition debuts both collections to the public.

“New Jewelry in a New Medium” will run from December 17, 2011 through June 17, 2012.

Diane Dunville, Night Dream, 1998, 4″ x 7″

As the winter solstice approaches and the days get darker, the soft glow of an interior lamp is especially attractive.   Translucent polymer allows light to shine through it, inspiring a number of artists to explore the concept of illumination.   Here are several notable examples:

D. Dunville, Mood Indigo
1999, 8″ x 13″

Diane Dunville’s background is in illustration but with polymer she moved into the realm of 3D.  Fascinated by glass art, Dunville created a series of lamps during the late 1990’s.   After building a foundation of mesh, Dunville added layers of translucent polymer which were then textured and carved.   The results are a graphic and playful blend of color and pattern which make for bold, decorative surfaces when unlit and cast a colorful glow when lit.

Barbara Sperling, Lotus Heron Flambeau, 2006
14″ x 7″ x 4.5″
polymer, electric wire and socket

Nature is almost always the inspiration behind Barbara Sperling’s delicate imagery and intricate cane patterns.   In this wall sconce the frontal presentation of flowers and fish hover on a surface patterned with dragonflies.   Coordinated side panels show flora and fauna imagery formed in shallow relief.  The combination of the floating fish and flowers with the molded birds and cattails is evocative of the difference between land and water.

B. Bishoff and J.M. Syron, Bubble Lamp, 2000
62″ x 12″ x 12″, tiger maple, polymer, maple,
electric fittings

Bonnie Bishoff and J.M. Syron make a variety of lamps that combine wooden frames with polymer shades.  Bishoff’s polymer surfaces present subtle, overall patterns that recall the basic, repetitive units of nature, which complement the organic properties of the wood.   Honeycomb, flames, bubbles, sea urchins and barnacles are among her repertoire.   Meant to be incorporated into someone’s home décor, these lamps are understated but highly distinctive.