We interrupt our regular programming for this commercial announcement…

I just received news that my polymer work is featured top and center on the cover of a new book about contemporary art jewelry. Of course I’m pleased for personal reasons, but more importantly, polymer garners added status within the field of contemporary art jewelry. This volume by Jeff Snyder is a revised edition of Dona Meilach’s classic Art Jewelry Today. Scheduled for publication in late September, you can pre-order the book here: Art Jewelry Today 2

The publisher, Schiffer, describes the book as follows:

Hundreds of stunning color photos display the wearable artwork produced by today’s top art jewelers, including one-of-a-kind necklaces, brooches, bracelets, rings, and earrings in gold, silver, mixed metals, glass, enamel work, found objects, and more. Here is sculpture made small and designed to adorn the body and draw the eye, created by artists who have committed their lives to their work. The text introduces artists from around the globe. This book is the second in a series pioneered by the late Dona Meilach and provides readers familiar with her work with a new look at some of the artists they have come to know as well as an introduction to artists not previously known. This is a valuable guide to today’s art jewelry, for buyers and artists alike.

THREE OBJECTS from a group

14”, 9”, 6” in diameter

For the MIPCES catalog, Steven Ford wrote:

“With this group of sewn forms, I was trying to think of the clay in a new way. I transferred drawings to make ‘yardage’ of material, then cut it out, and assembled it with an ordinary sewing machine using a zig zag stitch. I wanted a pile of geometric forms that hold their own shape but are softened by the unique qualities of this material.”

Here’s how Steven responded to several questions recently:

Steven Ford with his installation at the MIPCES exhibition

Was the piece made specifically for this show? “Yes, it was made specifically for this show, an answer to exhibition’s challenge to show what else polymer clay could do.”

Where did the idea/inspiration for this piece come from? “A couple of sources; I was an apprentice at the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, and saw there some soft constructions that were like Claus Oldenberg’s collapsing sculptures.”

What makes/made this piece special for you? “I wanted to make something bigger than the caned jewelry we were doing at the time. For me it also represents a recurring interest in adapting techniques from other media–an idea that was later explored as the theme at the Making History conference at Arrowmont.”

Do you know where this piece is now? Who owns it? “Ford/Forlano still have them in our Philadelphia studio.”

Where there any noteworthy technical hurdles that you had to conquer in making this piece? “Stitching polymer clay sheet on a sewing machine without breaking the clay with the line of perforations. There was a lot of trial and error, a later piece was made in a similar way for a show of teapots at SOFA/NY by Mobilia Gallery. It used fabric backing to reinforce the seams.”

What connections do you see to the work you are currently doing? “Soft, homemade geometry is a consistent interest. Nothing too hard, cold, absolute, rather, organic geometry (like a bee’s honeycomb). That’s still an interest and turns up again and again in our work without trying.”

SOUVENIR #1, YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN

10.5″ x 5.5″ x 3.5″

For the MIPCES catalog, Victoria Hughes wrote:

“The ‘Souvenirs’ series is composed of structures to evoke memories; of places, events, thoughts, visions… Our memories are always more than just the bare outlines of an experience- as moment to moment we move through time, changing ‘now’ to ‘past’, we color our memories with impressions, feelings, echoes of desires and dreams, until the memory becomes multidimensional, a reflection of our lives until that moment. Art illustrates life. My ‘Souvenirs’ give form to memories from my interior life.
These are experiments in larger scale, three-dimensional versions of an earlier body of work: my postage-stamp pins. I’ve combined many new surface techniques with architectural and interior spaces, moving and hanging elements, texts, and found objects into polymedia assemblages. Some elements are removable and can be worn. My interest for this group of work lies in combining dimensional structure with the particular material qualities that polymer clay alone provides.”

Recently, here’s what Victoria had to say about this piece:

Victoria Hughes with her work at the MIPCES exhibition

Where did the idea/inspiration for this piece come from?
“From a previous desire to make larger, more dimensional versions of my postage stamp pins. I wanted to really push the sculptural activation of space which sounds real dry, and do it using all those juicy aspects of polymer we love so much: color, translucency, textures, mixed media, metallic effects. We have the best of all worlds!”

What technical hurdles did you have to conquer in making this piece?
“This sculpture was easier than I thought. It was so exciting to be in the process of creating it. I swear I could feel my brain expanding as I did things I had often thought of but never let myself do before. There was just enough taking risks, confronting my own inner voices that said ‘what do you think you are doing, doing exactly what you want?’. Fascinating. So the challenges were very small, and internal. Mostly I just had a great time. The drawer was a lot of fun, too, had been thinkig about using those techniques, which create the ‘Little Amulet’ to make a drawer in something.
I went on to make two more in this series, and may make another couple, but different. The form continues to fascinate me. And of course the basic concept, of color and translucency moving through space, well what’s not to like about that? “

What connections do you see to the work you are currently doing?
See my notes on ‘Ola Nyingma’ for this one. Same thing.

Can you provide any other explanatory remarks about the title/intent of the work?
” ‘Souvenir’ means a remembrance. This is a remembrance of other places and cultures, of other art peices of mine; and the prince praying is remembering his heart, opening it as he recites the sutra.”

Can you provide any other explanatory remarks about the process of making the piece?
“Another aspect of making them that I wanted to approach was whether scale can be understood as part of design. Meaning that I think good design is good design whatever the size. A piece should not depend on particular attributes of its size to be thought of as good design. Likewise bad design is bad design, even if it is big. Ahem…. Anyway, pulling the design elements I liked from the smaller stamp pins into a bigger scale was a productive excercise, among other things. Took a small bit of fiddling, but then it came together.”

“These Souvenir pieces are always physically smaller than I think. In my mind the three pieces are about 18″ tall. Other people had commented on how hard it was to figure out the scale of lots of my jewelry and sculpture. “Looks bigger in the pictures”, I hear that a lot. With the postage stamp pins, the stamps give them away if you can tell that’s what it is. Without that clue, the pins seemed bigger.”

LIZARDO DIABLO 11”L x 7½”W x 7”H

For the MIPCES catalog, Amy Zinman wrote:

“Just as the chameleon can change its appearance to blend into the environment, polymer clay can be mixed to create an infinite palette and shaped into endless forms. My piece, ‘Lizardo Diablo,’ allowed me to combine my love of polymer clay with my fascination with these beautiful reptiles and their ability to evoke a broad range of colors.”

You can read more about Amy Zinman’s Lizards in previous post entitled Lizardo Diablo.

FABLE VESSEL “THEY WERE PROBABLY SOUR ANYWAY”

6”h x 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″

For the MIPCES catalog, Margaret Maggio wrote:

“In the fable series I’m having fun playing opposing elements against each other- the grid and the curve, the rough and the smooth, the narrative and the abstract. It is very satisfying to sit at my table and create from scratch all of the colors, shapes, and textures that I need to build an idea entirely of polymer clay.”

Margaret Maggio with her installation at MIPCES exhibition

Margaret Maggio, 3 Fable Vessels, 1997

SEATTLE CRAZY QUILT

For the MIPCES catalog, Lindly Haunani wrote:

“Fragmented pattern in the context of quilt images has been a recurring theme in my work for the last twenty-five years. The color palette and patterning in this quilt was inspired by a visit to Seattle in the fall of 1996. Approaching my clay quilt like a fabric designer, without color constraints, I choose the colors after freely mixing a large variety of swatches, and then making intuitive choices from the results. Each stage of the process, the palette development, the ‘fabric’ construction and the final cutting is enormously satisfying (and lots of fun)!”

Recently Lindly shared the following comments:

Lindly Haunani with her work at the MIPCES exhibition

Was the piece made in 1996-97 specifically for this show or for some other event first?
“My Seattle Quilt was made specifically for this show. Part of the “challenge” was to stretch artistic boundaries and one of the first aspects that occurred to me was to work on a much larger scale in polymer clay than I had been previously used to, And to exploit/ reverberate/ the dimensional aspects of working with polymer clay.”

Lindly Haunani, Seattle Crazy Quit, detail, 1997

Where did the idea/inspiration for this piece come from?
“I’ve always loved crazy quilts and had taken a trip to Seattle, during which I visited the botanical gardens and been almost overwhelmed by the subtlety of the colors and textures of the native Northwest plants.”

Was there precedent in your previous work? Can you explain?
“Yes, In 1996 Steven Ford asked me to be part of their polymer clay calendar project, where each artist would be featured for a specific month with an image. we met at the Helen Drutt gallery in Philadelphia and in between looking at fabulous, cutting edge, collectable jewelry, I presented three different ideas to them for a calendar page. The presentation that intrigued them the most was a nine panel Crazy Quilt made from polymer clay. “

What made this piece special for you?
“It is the first and last time I spent a week dev loping a color palette, I carefully measured everything and made five different adjustments to the primaries I planned to use. each time I made a change I baked samples and made notes. Eventually, after deciding on the colors I would use, the degree of saturation end the overall feel I was shooting for…I processed ten pounds of clay in my food processor and arranged the clay in a box of gallon sized baggies. T mix the colors I just grabbed handfuls in relative amounts from each of the baggies of custom mixed primaries that i had designed. “

“I still have the Seattle Quilt, it is hanging over my computer desk and several times a day I revisit the possibilities of doing more large pieces, as in more quilts directly inspired by the color and imagery of food. Another coffee bean quilt or perhaps bagels and cream cheese - tongue and cheek - and resplendent glory of the colors, textures and implicit humor of the difference between miniature polymer clay food and food inspired art. ”

Can you provide any other explanatory remarks about the process of making this piece?
“When I was making my first quilt, Pier Voulkos was staying with me while teaching a workshop at the Art League School at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria Virginia. I indicated to her that I really needed to work towards the deadline of finishing my crazy quilt for the calendar project. I had three baking trays of possible fabrics for the quilt, but needed more. We spent a delightful evening, listening to Zakir Hussein and the Rhythm experience=- while passing pieces of clay back and forth as we brainstormed and added elements. The inspirational breakthrough for me was when Pier grabbed a small tray of beads in progress that had been temporarily discarded and were, now, unconditioned and too stiff … flattened, smashed and overlaid onto another surface..in rhythm to the music? magic! “

Were there any noteworthy technical hurdles that you had to conquer in making this piece.
“It is nine panels that fit into my convection oven, however I needed to experiment with adhesives that would be archival and work well to cement the pieces to the Masonite backing board. Eventually I settled on the contact cement that is used to mount Formica counter tops. The next and frankly unexpected challenge was devising a way to ship a piece that was larger, when padded and packed, than the usual shipping guidelines for UPS. “

What connections do you see to the work you are currently doing?
“Many -ultimately the willingness to think beyond the box instead of outside the box. “

JESSE ELEANOR JONES

For the MIPCES catalog, Susan Hyde wrote:

“This piece is a portrait of my mother from her high school photograph in 1929 when she was 18. I have always loved the picture. After much reflection, I decided on a standing piece with wings for support. It ties in with my obsession for angels, and certainly reflects my feelings about my mother, who died of cancer when I was 9.”

Susan Hyde with her sculture in the MIPCES exhibition

UNTITLED, polymer clay painting

8” x 11”

For the MIPCES catalog in 1997, David Forlano, of Ford/Forlano, wrote:

David Forlano with his work at the MIPCES exhibition

“This series of polymer clay paintings and objects is a returning to a process in painting and imagery I was working with seven years ago. These ideas are made fresh by working with polymer clay as opposed to the paint I used. I have found that the adding and subtracting of layers, a process I often use, works very well with polymer clay. It is my intention to make imagery that is evocative of landscape, still life and narration. I look for questions that are more satisfying when left unanswered.”

EXPRESSIONS OF TIME, IV

10” x 10”

For the MIPCES catalog, Gwen wrtote:

“By moving from the body (jewelry) to the wall, I found freedom to be more innovative, less polished. I can fully indulge my passion for simulating the surface richness which often occurs with time. In this piece the corroded surfaces are produced by the use of patinas, dry ground pigment, and toner etching on polymer clay.”

More recently, Gwen Gibson shared the following thoughts:

“Partly because I didn’t know anyone else working in polymer clay, and partly because I had spent time painting, my work took its own direction from the beginning. My main departure was the use of paint for surface effects rather than the color of the clay.

I created wall pieces for the MIPCES show because I found it hard to work with a variety of surface effects on the scale that jewelry demands. My intention was to make a reference to a museum display by mounting the faux artifacts slightly off the picture plane. I developed a technique for etching the clay with traditional Japanese textile patterns which I then “aged” with burnt umber acrylic paint.

What makes this piece special to me is that MIPCES was my debut in the world of polymer clay. Seeing my work displayed along with artists whose work I very much admired gave me confidence to teach the techniques which I had been developing in seclusion over the past three years.

The wall pieces are closely related to the collage work I do today. I still like to play with images from cultures that captivate me and I’ve never abandoned my love for aged, textural surfaces.”

Gwen Gibson with her 3 wall pieces in the MIPCES exhibition

THE BURGESS SHALE

20” x 23” x 1½”

For the MIPCES catalog, David Edwards wrote:

“The Burgess shale was discovered in 1909. Its exquisitely detailed fossils are among the most important ever discovered in paleontology. In collections, the shale consists of hand-dressed gray-black slabs, each containing one or more fossils depicting the ‘Cambrian explosion’ of life. ‘The Burgess Shale’ represents a contemporary, subjective interpretation of the shale, intended for leisurely contemplation and thoughtful examination of its components.”

David Edwards, Bad Moon Rising, 1997

This piece of David’s was also on display in the MIPCES exhibiton.