emiko-o reware

Last week I took down the Cher the Love tribute ensemble installation that was showcased at SCRAP’s 3rd Annual Art Exhibition. This was only the 2nd time that the entire ensemble has been shown (off the body anyway), and the lovely Exhibition Director, Jenny Morningstar gave me the honors of having it show in the gallery window at the Green Zebra/reMake Lounge venue (SCRAP also had a concurrent show at the Eco Center, where my Snow White collar was shown).

The boa is made from found soda can holders (mostly picked off my street) sewn together with monofilament and capped off with sequins and sterling silver crimp beads. The halter is made from found foam (from SCRAP),  sushi trays which Harriete had saved over the years and kindly donated to my cause, and fine and sterling silver scraps.

Cher the Love Strong Enough Thong was the first piece of the set, made back in 2005 from recycled Plexiglas and fine and sterling silver. My intent was to get into the SNAG exhibition at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but instead I got the fine opportunity to model the entire ensemble in a fashion show at the museum and to Cher’s “Strong Enough” song at that!

Admittedly, these aren’t my best photos, but the best I could do onsite dealing with window glare and a busy background. Essentially I made a plexiglas, half-round rod neck hanger from which the halter and boa were attached and hung from the ceiling. Could have definitely used an accent light to really show it off, but  the venue is not really an art gallery, so oh well.

Can’t complain, cause after all, to my delight, I was selected for a Juror’s Choice Award by juror JD Beltran, conceptual artist and professor at the San Francisco Art Institute! A little birdy told me that my Cher ensemble was one of the few pieces that scored 10s by all 3 jurors!  SWEET!

Here’s a little early V-day love to y’all!

photo by Raymond King

Yep, next week I head back to the motherland Ohio for a special art-filled, emiko-o day at Miami University Art Museum in Oxford. A few weeks ago was the opening for the exhibition Adornment and Excess curated by Lena Vigna. The show runs through July 10 and is part of Luxury, Consumption & Excess, a larger suite of exhibitions comprised of both historical and contemporary objects that investigates the socio-cultural relationship between material goods, wealth and class. Some of My First Royal Jewels will be on display, as well as work by Harriete Estel Berman, Francesca Vitali, Kathy Buszkiewicz, Gabriel Craig, Anya Kivarkis, just to name a few.

exhibition announcement

Earlier last year, Lena co-authored with Namita Gupta Wiggers the article Mining History: Ornamentalism Revisited for Metalsmith Magazine, in which my Queen Margherita was the title image. I caught up with Lena at the recent American Craft Conference in Minneapolis last fall in the midst of my blogging for SNAG, and offered to visit during the run of the show.

Lo and behold she invited me to participate in a special round table discussion on Creativity and Sustainability that she is moderating Feb 10th, 6:00-7:30pm. Professors Mary Benedict Bonham (Dept Architecture) and Rodney Northcutt (Dept Art) will be speaking as well as Graduate Student Lisa Wilson. I’m excited to bring my experiences to the table! The event is open to the public, so please come if you’re in town.

Check out this article by Deniz Nural in Feb 2nd issue of The Miami Student (online and print) about the exhibition – my necklaces are in the accompanying photo. Can’t wait to see the show!

Just got my work back from the Minimal Bling exhibition that was at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston last month. I was extremely pleased that they used my Maharajah’s 6th LEGO necklace in the promotional materials, including the gorgeous postcard. While I was at SNAG Philly last May I had the pleasure of reconnecting with the Director, Beth Ann Gerstein, and Exhibitions Director, Fabio Fernandez. SAC had first shown my work way back in 2003 when I was doing the Truth tiara series.

For Minimal Bling I made 2 new mid-range pieces to accompany this neckpiece and the Duchess neckpiece (these latter 2 are now at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft‘s Transmutations show).

Pas de trois is a necklace that riffs off my recent Cygne Noir reinterpretation of Lalique’s Women with Black Swans enamel necklace. The pendant has 3 components, the bottom 2 of which are interchangeable.

Twilight is my latest Limited Edition bracelet, which I was compelled to make way before I got sucked into the black hole obsession of a series that obliterated my month of January (hence the lack of posts since early december; I’m 10 pages away from finishing the last book, thank god!). I must say it does justice to books; what would Stephenie Meyer say?

Most of the non-CA shows that my work is in I don’t get the chance to see, but my pal Shana swung by and shot these pics of the gallery entrance, where lo and behold, my Luke and Darth Vader earrings are HUGE on the banner! No wonder those earrings sold!

Well that’s it on my end blogging for the American Craft Council 2009 Conference, Creating A New Craft Council. Much thanks to SNAG for trusting Harriete Estel Berman and I in reporting via blog fashion for the SNAG membership and community at large. Also thanks to Object Fetish for promoting our endeavors.

TIP: Listen to interview with SNAG’s Executive Director, Dana Singer on blogtalkradio.com TODAY, Thursday Oct 22 @ 3pm.

Quote by Faythe Levine

This was an energized crowd that has a lot more to talk about now! I urge all attendees to bring these conversations home to your own communities, physical and virtual,  and continue the dialogue about Craft in the 21st century. Ask the hard questions, practice Tough Love.

What do you want to see happen in Craft’s near future?
What actions can we start to take to affect change?

PSST…Want to get in on the conference buzz? Wait no longer and sign up for SNAG’s 2010 Conference, Going to Extremes, March 10-13 in Houston TX.

Friday Schedule

DAY 1
7:45 AM Friday: The early bird catches the worm and a whole lot of presentations here in the Radisson Plaza Hotel, Minneapolis MN. Arrived LATE last night (my need to take public transit everywhere) and signed in way too early this morning, thermos in hand. Harriete Estel Berman and I are Ready for action, and it didn’t take long for the atrium to be buzzing with anticipation (for the Thursday tours and pre-conference scoop, check  out Harriete’s blog). Used to the cattle rush of SNAG conferences, it is refreshing to be a part of a smaller group here at this conference (imagine half as many or less); surprising, actually since Craft embodies so many more fields of interest than just metals. Perhaps it’s the recession, time of year, or location, but I have a feeling that after people hear about this year’s conference, the next one will have a much larger attendance. (Yes, that is an img of today’s schedule: 9+ events, not including the evening craft tours!)

Many familiar faces in the crowd, many from the Philadelphia SNAG conference that for a moment I forgot what conference I was really at, and as Harriete and I were mentally preparing ourselves, a few stopped by to say hi and wish us luck: Sienna Patti, Namita Gupta Wiggers (who will be presenting a panel tomorrow about internet marketing for which I’m SO excited), and Lena Vigna (she co-authored with Namita the recent Metalsmith article, Ornamentalism Revisited, and is curating an upcoming exhibition with a similiar feel at Miami University Art Museum).
Lena tells me that she was part of one of 7 Convenings dialogues, small gatherings of specialized groups such as curators, educators, writers, of which the participants were specially invited by ACC. Forums for people to get to know one another and begin to raise questions. This arose due to feedback from the 2006 ACC Conference. Some of the issues that came out of Lena’s curators’ forum:
-What happens when artists don’t identify themselves as craftspeople?
-Recognizing that 20th Century Craft should be regarded as a Historical movement (and move forward with 21st Century craft as a new one).

8:30 AM: ACC Board Chair, Leilani Lattin Duke, opened this years conference speaking of the themes to Creating a Craft Culture:
-Thinking about Craft and the Individual, the Community, and the Marketplace
-The Idea of Making: how it address the rapidly changing world and Crafts place in it

Dr. Richard Sennet, Keynote

8:45 AM: Keynote Speaker: Dr. Richard Sennett. A little background: Sociologist and writer,  the most recently published book is The Craftsman. He founded, with Susan Sontag and Joseph Brodsky, The New York Institute for the Humanities at New York University, was an advisor to UNESCO & president of the American Council on Work; teaches at New York University and the London School of Economics.
The Craftsman argues that the craftsman’s realm is far broader than skilled manual labor; the computer programmer, the doctor, the parent, and the citizen need to learn the values of good craftsmanship today.

OK, enough background, let’s get down to it–I was glad the Dr. prefaced his talk with “You’ll have to excuse me, but I’m a Night Person” (so am I, Richard; trying to speak before 10 am IS challenging)–so I forgave him for the sluggish, somewhat philosophical sputterings at the beginning, comparing computer engineers to craftsmen, and Linux as public craft. I mean, I get it since my fiancé is a techie, but many artists glaze over after more than a few minutes of techie speak.

The question of the hour (and theme for the day) is: Why is it that Mediocracy tends to dominate over Quality in our society? In the modern workplace, delivering Quality is regarded/rewarded less than delivering Results. Thus we don’t reward craftsmanship since we don’t reward quality. How do we maintain the balance of Quality and Democracy?

Craft is exploratory; in craftsmen, there is a deep relationship between problem solving and problem finding–good craftsmen want to see what opens up when solving problems. It’s about the craftsmanship in learning, in stopping to dwell on things and find out what’s interesting and possible.  Unfortunately our society doesn’t look kindly upon learning at this pace.

What’s the solution?–Remove craftsmen from the need to produce Products and return importance to Process.

See what Harriete has to say on her blog here.

This coming Thursday, Sept 10 I will be back at my alma mater Syracuse University (it’s been over 12 years!) to do my Top Ten Tips for Post Grad Success workshop for the Jewelry & Metalsmithing Dept, plus give an evening artist talk at 7pm. The workshop is only for students, but I believe the artist talk is open to the public. The talk will be held at the Comart facility at 119 Comstock Ave, Room 022 (see poster below).

emiko SU poster

I’m super excited to share my decade+ of real world experience with the students, as I often hear that Professional Development is not covered in the classroom and SHOULD be. The Professional Guidelines (co-sponsored by SNAG, Harriete Estel Berman, chair) is definitely going to be an underlying thread to the afternoon, plus interactive activities, worksheets, demos. Get ready for brain explosion!
Highlights from the lecture will be posted on this blog in the weeks ahead–so stay tuned!

LEGO Blue Steel Necklace and domino bracelet

The evening lecture will focus on my work from the last 4 years, mostly the LEGO series, so if you’re in the area, bring your buddies along for a trip down brick geek lane…..

Let’s take a minute to give props to the student body of SNAG, for as Stanley has said, and I agree, they are our Future, not to mention some of the most creative and innovative makers. When I head into the Pin Swap event, I go straight to the students, because more often than not, they have the coolest pins and are the friendliest of the bunch.
So, first let’s congratulate the winners of the SNAG Educational Endowment Award:

Vincent Pontillo

WINNERS: Vincent Pontillo (SUNY Buffalo) (see image, right)
Rachel Shimpock (Cal State Long Beach)
Davina Romansky (RIT)

Elliot Gaskin

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Elliot Gaskin (Academy of Art, SF) (see image, left)
Andrew Kuebeck

On to the Student Exhibition, MetalEvolution, curated by Susan Myers and Bruce Metcalf, and organized by Erin Williams. Great work, you three, this show was outstanding.
WINNER of this show: Vincent Pontillo!

Vincent Pontillo's Pomegranate

AUDIENCE CHOICE: Lindsey Phillips (see image, left bottom)

Lindsey Phillips

My personal favorite was a velcro necklace by Yong Joo Kim. Thread was the material for Ashli Brooke Taylor‘s necklace, and the political pin multiples of Sean Scully were also memorable.

Yong Joo Kim's velcro necklace

Ashli Brooke Taylor's thread necklace

Sean Scully's political pins

Abigail Williams also had work in the show, and she happened to be watching over the gallery when I first stopped in. She had a great felted wool and metal collar piece on, as you’ll see below.

Abigail Williams

On the last night at the banquet, I met Jenny Schneider, whose Beaver crown was in the show; here’s a photo of her (center) and her friends wearing her work.

jenny schneider and her jewelry

Lifetime Achievement Award

9am on Thursday, May 21 and we’re all gathered in the large ballroom for the Keynote by Stanley Lechtzin (I’m a bit behind on my posts, as it is currently Day 3, but let’s pretend for now it’s still Day 2, Thursday). First, however, Stanley was awarded the SNAG Lifetime Achiement Award, very fitting as this year’s theme is Revolution! Cynthia Eid created and presented this beautiful silver vessel award (as shown in the slide above onscreen). Stanley gave a moving speech, personally thanking individuals and sending out his love to each of them, for being so supportive of him over the years. In closing, he had all the students in the audience stand up, and to them he said, “You are the most important part of this conference; you are the future of this organization.” Over 200 students are in attendance this year, not too bad out of 700 attendees!

Stanley Lechtzin

Incoming President, Harlan Butt introduced Stanley for the following Keynote address, the theme and title which I love and is my personal motto this year, “Seizing of Opportunities.”

He continues to be at the forefront of our field, leading the way for art jewelry to integrate with today’s technologies, from design in CAD/CAM to realization in 3D resin modeling. In his keynote, he posed these questions which I pose to you:

Are you recognizing your opportunities?

Are you using your opportunities to their fullest?

Are you preparing your students for the future?

He went on to share these words of wisdom: “This is not a dress rehearsal. When they [opportunities] come up, grab them.” And lastly, “Those who CAN, Do; Those who can Do it Better, Teach.”

Friday, May 22–Day 3, 9am. Crafting Ecology by Neri Oxman

Material Ecology

Material Ecology

Probably the most fitting lecture to the theme of Revolution and the future of craft, was this lecture by Neri  Oxman, PhD candidate at MIT. In 2008 she exhibited extensive design research in Design and the Elastic Mind, commissioned by MoMA, NY. Her work in Material Computation, “Material Ecology” as she calls it,  investigates and pioneers how well-designed Form can optimize Performance. She lists 4 Movements of Craft Ecology:
Adaptive Components–how small parts affect the design of the whole; Adaptive Materials–capturing material behaviors via computers; Adaptive Form & Environment; Adaptive Material & Environment–what tools you use to build form.

She touched on Green Fabrication, finding a relationship between how badly industry treats material efficiency today, and how well nature knows how to optimize materials. Looking into how one material can be used to cater to multiple performances. Quoting Brian Eno, “The problem with computers is that there is not enough Africa in them.” Basically, a synergetic approach to achieving generative design; looking back to the source, to Nature.

Camille Paglia

11:30am, Art and Sex by Camille Paglia
By far the Most Entertaining of all the lectures was Art and Sex by scholar and culture critic, Camille Paglia. What a riot; imagine half a semester of Art History class in less than an hour, including personal quips and hilarious commentary. I did learn a few things that I missed the first time around in college, such as with Donatello’s David.

Donatello's David

Besides being a fruity looking guy, check out how the feather in the severed head’s helmut seems to caress David’s inner thigh, dangerously close to his parts…Can you see it? How about here:

In Ingres’ Grand Odalisk, not only is this woman of the harem a bit doped up on her hookah, but the exposed, perfect soles of her feet give rise to an unexpected erotism of feet. 

1:30pm, Anti/icono/clastic by Myra Mimlitsch-Gray
After an equally speedy lunch, we returned for an artist lecture by Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, who gave us a tour of her Arts/Industry residency at Kohler Co., working in the foundry to create utilitarian ware and abstract sculptures. Inspired by the movie, The Future of Food, and the regional culinary culture (Kohler is based in Wisconsin), Myra tweaked the familiar and created sculptures based on the genetic modification of food. We were lucky enough to see these works in person at the Wexler Gallery on Friday night. Here are a few images from that show.

Braut pans

Mitosis by Myra Mimlitsch-Gray

2:45pm, Notes: Postal Art & Musical Instruments by Bobby Hannson

Bobby Hannson

What started out as a curious project by Tim McCreight to collect artistic, custom envelopes that Bobby Hannson had sent to friends and family over the years, turned into a 13 minute DVD movie of Bobby’s art and musical instruments, featuring the eclectic, lovable character himself. We got a sneak peak at the film, and even were encouraged to take home a complimentary copy to share with the world. You too can have a copy ($20), available soon on Tim’s Brynmorgen Press website.

Have a look at the Youtube clip yourself:

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Jewelry in Motion at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was certainly a highlight of Day 2. All 34 of us who were showing in the event were corraled into the main entry in front of the grand staircase inside the museum, and given brief instruction on the catwalk, stair placement, and order of artists.

Here is just a sampling of images: James Thurman‘s Book Jacket of recycled book covers, and Anthony Tammaro‘s Here I Am chandelier-like neckpiece with bells that chimed. Below that is Christine Bossler‘s Inhibit reverse arm pieces of monofilament and pearls.

James Thurman and Anthony Tammaro's piece

Christine Bossler's Inhibit

Curated by Gail Brown and organized by Marjorie Simon, everything fell into place, from the live music by Alex Styer, choreographed dancers from Jeanne Ruddy Dance, and witty emcees Lola Brooks and Jonathan Wahl.

Jewelry In Motion (photo by Jennifer Crupi)

There really is no better way to show jewelry than on the body, and after the show was over and we all descended the stairs and made our way off the catwalk, the cameras continued snapping and countless curious audience members introduced themselves to us to inspect the pieces.

emiko's jewelry in motion

Here I am (center) with SNAG member Alecia Wesner and my partner in catwalk crime, Christi Swier. The debut of my latest creations, Blue Steel (Boucheron replica), and Cygne Noir (Lalique replica). The costume designer in me couldn’t resist the opportunity to be theatrical with the 18th century wigs and ball gowns, especially after my Cher appearance at SNAG 05 at the Rock and Roll Hall. I encourage everyone who participates in future Jewelry In Motions to consider their entire get-up just as you would the display of your pieces in a gallery. Not only are you memorable, but it’s the best opportunity to meet TONS of people. Next JIM is SNAG ’10 in Houston, so start designing now!

If you TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS of Jewelry in Motion, please let me know and I’ll post your links. So far, Jennifer Crupi has her images up on Picasa and Jennifer Zwilling has images on Flickr .  SNAG photographer, Phil Renato, has some raw b&w images on Flickr. And there were rumors that a local TV station was filming…I’ll keep you posted.