Detached Objects: live footage at CFAT

Detached Objects was a light art animation that was projected upon sheer fabric into a courtyard space on a snowy Thursday in February 2017. This footage captures the mood evoked using 3 projectors and combining the imagery of the Detached Objects files. The project was compiled using Isadora.

Detached Objects at CFAT

Detached Objects is an investigation into stone and its human-lithic relationship with the development of the human mind. 

Heavy physical ceramic objects that resemble stones or asteroids were animated, distorting our perceptions on their size, scale, and weight. The title refers to comets that inhabit the distant regions of the Solar System, and it is theorised by scientists that the impact upon the Earth of one or more of these objects may have been the catalyst for life as we know it.

The screening of the five scholars work: Jeighk Koyote (Mentor: Sam Decoste),Tamar Dina (Mentor: Becka Barker), Todd Fraser (Mentor: Lukas Pearse), Ryan Josey (Mentor: James MacSwain) and myself, Kate Ward (Mentor: Susan Tooke) took place on a snowy stormy night last Thursday. A big thank you to all who braved the conditions to attend.

My work was screened from 3 projectors which projected Detached Objects simultaneously onto sheer fabric in the central courtyard space. The snow enhanced the effect, dancing in the projected light, and shimmering on the fabric. Each of the detached objects had a sonic audio personality which appeared as each of the objects appeared in the dark. 

For more images of the event visit the CFAT Facebook page.

A big thank you to CFAT for such an amazing experience. I really enjoyed my time , and the experience of the scholarship surpassed my expectations. I learnt so much and met so many wonderful and talented people - it truly has been the most marvellous experience! 

I was super impressed by everyone's project - I thought they looked incredibly professional which demonstrates the wonderful knowledge that has been shared with us through the workshops and mentors. Being paired with an amazing mentor (Susan Tooke) is such a great experience and I couldn't have achieved what I did without her support. Lukas Pearse was also incredibly helpful offering his time so that I could catch up on the missed sound workshop and he also shared his passion and knowledge for Isadora with me - its definitely a program I would like to learn in more depth once the dust settles!

Id also like to say a SUPER big thank you to CFAT staff Tori, Tom and Sally for all their amazing help with the lead up to last night's exhibition. It takes a lot of hard work, time and dedication to have such a successful show. 

xxx

CFAT Scholarship: Video Editing

This week we learnt the basics to video editing using the Adobe Premier Pro software.

I combined imagery taken whilst travelling through Iceland and my animated rotating rock. This is the result.

Ciao! Accademia Riacci

Its hard to believe that I am in Florence. The opportunity to study under a scholarship seemed to come from out of the blue, and before I knew it, I was in Italy. On my first morning walking to school  I stumbled across the Duomo, the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower). They started building the church in 1296 and finished it in 1436 with its famous dome. The building is a work of art and decorated with white, green and pink marble panels.......And my school is just around the corner from this! 

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

 It is an intensive course, with tuition four mornings a week (Monday - Thursday) from 9 am to 1pm. I am learning traditional jewellery techniques and my first project was to make a brass ring. This was so the teacher, Daniel, could gage the level of my skills.

My work bench at the Accademia

Making my first bass ring.

I completed the brass ring on the first day.

My first brass ring

Gelato is the Italian philosophy in life

To celebrate finishing my first day I tried some of the gelato flavours: The Queen (pink cream), Antique cream (hint of lemon) and a rich dark chocolate. There seems to be a gelateria on every corner and I resolved to try all the different flavours in the city! The weather at the moment is about 35 degrees daily - and eating gelato help me stay cool. (well, thats my theory anyway)

The second bass ring was more complicated and I had to solder 2 flat lengths of brass to the main piece, before turning it into a ring. I liked how tweezers were used to hold the brass, and these just rested on the fire brick (as opposed to using a third arm).

Brass ring #2 in progress

Brass Ring #2 before finishing.

 Expresso is a regular part of my daily routine, and it is a delicious way to finish off lunch. Lunch consists of a 2 course meal, which is generally soooo big that I end up taking half of it with me to eat for dinner.

 On the third day I started work on a silver fig leaf pendant.

Fig leaf in pitch

The leaf is held in pitch which is soft enough to allow indentations to be made, whilst holding it in place. I am excited to be learning this as it is the traditional Florentine jewellery designs and techniques.

The fourth day consisted of soldering a pierced place to the back of the leaf, and cleaning up the joins. Because of the fine detail of the edges, this took all day. But by the end my teacher said 'Bellisimo' and I soldered a 'stem' onto it which became the mechanism to attach it to a necklace. 

(Ill post pictures of the finished pieces soon).

For more images you can follow me on Instagram.

Ciao Bella x 

buon giorno Firenze

In a couple of days I will be heading off to Florence, Italy to participate in a four week summer course to learn traditional jewellery techniques specific to Tuscany.

I entered a design competition last year and I was awarded a scholarship to attend Academia Riacci. Academia Riacci is a private art school which specialises in, amongst other things, Jewellery. They also have a leather working program which focuses in shoes and bags (how much fun), interior and graphic design, and all the usual programs found in an art school including sculpture and painting.

I will be learning Incisione (Florence engraving) which is delicate metal chasing and carving using a specific engraving tool. I will also be learning Florence Openwork - exciting! 

Example of Incisione
Image courtesy of Aceademia Riaci

Example of openwork
Image courtesy of Stefano Oro

I am looking forward to learning these new skills in such a fabulous location. We have an interpreter, and class is four days a week. Its going to be challenging to get to class by 9am whilst I am holidays, although I am sure the excitement and lure of adventure will prompt me to get to class on time. My accommodation is about a 25 min walk to school, and I am hoping to find some great coffee shops along the walk that will help to wake me up with an expresso and a delicious Italian pastry.

One day a week is set aside for 'Art visits' which I am guessing will be viewing some of the amazing art on display in Florence. I am hoping this includes a visit to the Uffizi Gallery, one of the oldest museums in the world with an amazing collection of great Italian artists, including my favourite, Botticelli, who is famous for The Birth of Venus.

The Birth of Venus by Botticelli

I am planning to travel lightly and will be taking a super small suitcase. As you can see it is just big enough to fit a cat, who was a great help by assisting me what to pack. The case used to be the right size for carry on luggage (back in my London days), but I think they've shrunk those sizes recently.

Add caption

The Venice Biennale is also on whilst I am there and I am looking forward to returning to such a beautiful city. Squee! 

Ciao Bella

x

SNAG Boston

I was awarded a scholarship to attend the 44th annual SNAG (Society of North American Goldsmiths) conference, Looking Back, Forging Forward, held in Boston from 20 - 23 May.

Hanging out with Ruudt

The highlight of the conference was listening to Ruudt Peters keynote presentation 2mm Squared. Ruudt's practice continually challenges peoples perceptions of conventional jewellery and he alternates between jewellery and sculpture.

It was interesting to hear him talk about jewellery as craft, and how many makers get lost in the material and forget about the concept behind the work. He believes that this is the downfall of craft, which lacks the critical thinking and theories of art.

working sketch of an idea in process

It was fascinating to see his process from sketches which make their way to a family (series) of pieces. Ruudt is always challenging himself to create new pieces by placing himself in unfamiliar environments (such as a trip to China) and working with materials he doesn't like until you learn to love them. 

He was spoke about giving space to the unconscious and he often will create 'blind drawings' to start his creative process. He will intensely research and draw relating to a particular project, and then burn them all to allow the subconscious to create. The results are always fresh and spectacular. 

One of the finished pieces

 The conference also offered professional development workshops and I had the opportunity to meet with UK artist Helen Carnac, and discuss my work. Helen provided many great insights, and suggested a number of artists to research, that would assist to progress my work. This was incredibly exciting as she approaches jewellery making with a UK perspective, which is completely different to that of North America. Interestingly, she suggested that I work with metal to make it look more fluid like textiles - which relates back to my BVA in textiles. I look forward to trying out some of these ideas in the studio.

Two artists Helen suggested I research are:

June Schwarcz - who creates soft textile looking objects using metal and enamel
Martin Puryear - a sculpture who often incorporates textile techniques to construct large objects

The Heidi Lowe gallery held a pop up exhibition in one of the hotel rooms, which was welcomed with great excitement by the conference participants. Lots of great earrings were on display and I couldn't help but buy a pair - as a souvenir of course! 

I loved the simplicity of this design by Laura Hutchcraft

There were many satellite exhibitions (and way too many to see) which also provided the opportunity to explore Boston by foot.

Boston Streets

One of the exhibition highlights was held at the Laconia Gallery. The Homework Project, invited eight metalsmith, who have a studio in their homes to create a piece per month using their homes and the space within as a source of inspiration. The results were amazing.

dryer 'felt' or 'fluff'

Old hair curlers

Bracelts made from an old sewer pipe. Brilliant!

Looking at lines in the walls 

Back at the conference the vendor room was full of rocks, minerals and gems to admire, and purchase!  There were so many to choose from it was almost overwhelming.

A selection of gems I couldn't resist buying.

When the conference finished we continued our love of gems and minerals and visited the Natural History Museum at Harvard University.

Grounds at Harvard University, Cambridge

Fabulous displays of minerals

The collection was inspirational.