Sunday, May 15, 2011

Tout Ce qui brille


Kjøbenhavns Guldsmedelaug - the Guild of Goldsmiths in Copenhagen - has its origin in 1429 and is by that the oldest guild of craftsmen in the world. The long and proud tradition of craftsmanship is being shown in an exhibition in Mons, Belgium where a number of silversmiths and jewelers are showing some of their best work and their take on applied arts for a new era. For this exhibition I have made a new series of pitchers in sterling silver, challenging the differences between a vase and a pouring vessel.
If you stop by Mons during the summer, you can have a look at the show at the World Crafts Councils gallery at Rue de La Trouille in Mons from the 20th of may till the 14th of august.
'Kalabas', Sterling silver, Photo: Camilla Hey

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Collect

Just yesterday I returned from London where I visited ‘Collect’; a major exhibition of some of the best applied arts represented by some of the best galleries from all over Europe.
Seeing so much great work in such short time is so overwhelming that it takes some time to digest.
However one thing keeps coming back to me as it is an issue that I feel strongly about; The uncritical use of rp-materials in the exhibited pieces. I have to admit that I was disappointed to see good people using a material, that for me is only sketch-up material or prototype stuff. What could have been great pieces ended up as dull white resin, showing a lack of an individual expression.
The fascination of new technology should never compromise the overall quality of a piece of work, and I hope the use of a great but not-quite-there-yet-material will find it’s way out, as more and more artists find their own ways of combining available techniques. 
For this exhibition I stuck to traditional time consuming hammering techniques using plain and simple silver. The result can be seen at the Scottish Gallery next month.