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C E L E B R A T I O N

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C H A R ARTISTS:

Peggy Logan L

Angela Adair Clarissa Long E N Carmel Boerner Lindsay MacDonald S G I

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E Beaux Arts Bridget Catchpole Kevin McAllister M D

Barbara Cohen C Suzanne Nairne I H A Claudine Gévry Christine Pedersen P A An exhibition with the R R G

Sarah Groves Pamela Ritchie E E Supanitch (Melody) Juthamongkol David Robinson O C

Vancouver Metal Arts G A

Kristen Krievin Monika Urbaniak D N I A Emily Lewis Carolyn Young L Association

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Front Cover: T Carolyn Young, Conchology April 8 –June 30, 20 21

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Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre 3075 Slocan Street, Vancouver, BC www.italianculturalcentre.ca Tel: (604) 430-3337 Hours www.vancouvermetalarts.com Monday –Friday 10:00 AM –6:00 PM VANCOUVER METAL ARTS ASSOCIATION

The Vancouver Metal Arts Association ( VMAA ) is an artist-run nonprofit that promotes workshops, social events, artist lectures, and exhibitions for the art and metal - smith communities in Vancouver, BC. We are committed to connecting our membership with opportunities and benefits that support their personal jewellery and metalwork practices. CONTENTS

Curator’s Statement, Angela Clarke ...... 2

Angela Adair ...... 4

Carmel Boerner ...... 6

Bridget Catchpole ...... 8

Barbara Cohen ...... 10

Claudine Gévry ...... 12

Sarah Groves ...... 14

Supanitch (Melody) Juthamongkol ...... 16

Kristen Krievin ...... 18

Emily Lewis ...... 20

Peggy (Margaret)Logan ...... 22

Clarissa Long ...... 24

Lindsay MacDonald ...... 26

Kevin McAllister ...... 28

Suzanne Nairne ...... 30

Christine Pedersen ...... 32

Pamela Ritchie ...... 34

David Robinson ...... 36

Monika Urbaniak ...... 38

Carolyn Young ...... 40 CURATO R’S STATEMENT

20 21 is the 150 TH year of the birth ofItalian Canadian Sculptor Charles While Beaux Arts references large scale artwork in this exhibition, rather, veers architecture and its adornments this exhi - toward the opposing direction. Present in Marega (24 September, 1871–March 1939 ). In honour of Marega the bition diverges towards the small scale, the middle of the gallery are pieces which Italian Cultural Centre and the Il Museo Gallery is partnering with even the miniature. With work pared lead our eye away from the granite floor of down in size the artists ask viewers and the gallery, the earth surface, toward the the Vancouver Metal Arts Association ( VMAA ) for the current exhibition visitors to reevaluate their notions of ceiling and sky creating work that is light, Beaux Arts. The title Beaux Arts was chosen for its reference to the jewelry from the realm of the purely airy embodying ethereal-like qualities not artistic style of which Marega was an interpreter. ornamental to a major work of art that is resembling any similarity to something that sculptural, architectural and monumental in might reside in the underworld, below the theme and message. As one walks through earth’s crust. the gallery the external cabinets and walls Beaux art style originated with the École This exhibition is a celebration of skill feature jewelry in its small sculptural form. des Beaux Arts in Paris during the late 19 TH embodied by these artists who have such The set against black and white century. It combined classical architec - an immense capacity which not only elude canvases reshape our concept of jewelry tural styles which included the elements categorization within the confines of their from to deeply engaging artis - of symmetry, arched windows, pillars chosen medium of metal, but in effect they tic works that are meant to be studied with and columns with the incorporation of achieve the impossible, which is to over - the same depth as a painting on canvas. contemporary materials such as metals and come the essential nature of metal. The glass. Beaux Arts also espoused opulent In this exhibition 14 out of the 19 artists properties of metal inhabit gravitas, depth design with an emphasis on ostentatious have created wearable art. The message is and weight. Instead, these artists create details such as bas relief sculptures, Greco- clear that jewelry is an architectural and pieces that are aerodynamic, not only Roman goddesses and floral garlands and sculptural form and must not be relegated defying the essential features of their festoons. The inclusion of subtle colour to a separate and special category, margin - medium, but in effect defying the very laws was also evident. alized for being adornment that is confined of the earth itself, the laws of gravity. to the realm of the superfluous, which the This exhibition merges the concepts of Angela Clarke, Curator jewelry designer Paloma Picasso described Marega’s artistic style, his legacy and Il Museo Gallery as Les Superflus. impact on Vancouver, as well as questions about the colonial narratives many of his It is when the viewer approaches the middle works espouse including the lions on the of the gallery the metal art pieces become bridge and other public sculptures. This larger in scale. But even here the work of mixture of ideas and cultural influences these artists defy categorization. While Charles Marega, July 1938. past and present informed the work of historically metal arts are mythologically Photo: Vancouver Archives 1399 –399 these metal artists who spent a year creat - associated with earthy figures such as the ing pieces which spoke to these themes; Roman God Vulcan, the handicapped god however, loosely they may have been in - of fire and metalwork who was so innately terpreted and incorporated. associated with earthiness and terra firma that he was said to live near a volcano, the

2 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 3 ANGELA ADAIR

Beaux Arts architecture is characterized Eternal/Internal by massive structures of repeated columns Wearable sculpture, 20 21 and arches, embellished with organic Glass beads, mahogany beads, steel wire, accents such as the staircase. This sweeping form emulates the golden 15.24 cm x 3.048 cm mean: fractal equations found infinitely in nature and in the work of master artists. It is the ideal analogy for spiral bead weav - ing techniques, such as the helix as demonstrated here. This sculpture features fine glass beads woven with steel wire in countless geometric increments designed to emulate marble steps with a sweeping steel banister accompanied by a mahogany handrail. Look inside: Experience the sensation of seemingly endless flight.

4 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 5 CARMEL BOERNER

The Bridge, created to mark the 150 TH The bridge’s troubling history extends anniversary of Charles Marega’s birth, north across the Narrows to the Capilano acknowledges the problematic history Reserve, where land parcels were twice of the Lions Gate Bridge. Beaux Arts stolen from the Squamish Nation. The architecture is reflected in the presence of bridge’s builders refused to hire Indigenous a concrete column and in the arch of the workers, so the band sued to secure neckpiece. Marega is famous for creating employment. Given the job that no one the iconic lions that grace the south wanted, they cleared the land and then entrance of the bridge. He had hoped to were laid off. cast the lions in but, due to cost, The Bridge reminds us of the discrimina - they were built from concrete over wood tion inherent in the building of the Lions and wire frames. These materials, non- Gate Bridge, while honouring the man traditional for jewellery, are used in The who created its majestic lions at the end Bridge. Like Marega, I wanted to use bronze, of his remarkable career. but found it cost-prohibitive, so I used . I shared his disappointment. The concrete is secured by steel The Bridge wire, resembling the immense cables that Neckpiece, 2020 run across the towers and anchor at either Concrete, steel cable, copper, , wood end of the bridge. Bars across the wires 61 x 14 x 4 cm mimic those stabilizing the bridge’s cables, while rivets reflect those that cover the bridge. The single wooden sphere repre - sents the white men who worked on the bridge, while the copper drops represent those who were barred from obtaining work on the bridge: Indigenous men and men of Asiatic or African descent. The latter were not only forbidden from work - ing on the bridge, they were also barred from living in the British Properties (the bridge’s raison d’être), unless they were servants. Covenants prevented them from purchasing land and still remain on many properties, despite a 1978 change to BC’s Land Title Act legally ending this form of discrimination.

6 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 7 BRIDGET CATCHPOLE

The Beaux Arts Movement of grandiosity Bouquet of Detritus and opulence signifies a celebration of Gilded oval frame with removable Western European history in its classical , 20 21 forms. My pieces speak to the after-party... Steel, , marine , ocean/ or perhaps more specifically, to its cleanup. single use plastics, product Bouquet of Detritus (2021) venerates the packaging, resin decorative lushness attributed to the Beaux Arts Movement. However, the materials 45.72 x 60.96 cm lack the extravagant hierarchy of what is considered precious. The necklace of garlands and vines are made from tangled marine rope, ocean plastic, beauty product packaging, and single use plastics.

8 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 9 BARBARA COHEN

Prominent features of Beaux Arts architec - Column I ture are its columns and arches which I Sculpture, 2020 have translated into my jewelry. Innovative Black annealed steel wire materials of the time also figured promi - nently into the architecture just as the 58.42 x 12. 7 x 12. 7 cm materials I use are not traditionally associ - Column II ated with jewelry. Sculpture, 2021 Each of my pieces explores the column Black annealed steel wire in different ways. One has a decorative capital typical at the of Beaux Arts 45.72 x 12. 7 x 12. 7 cm columns, while another includes an Column III abstraction of an arch. The third column Sculpture, 20 21 sits next to ‘a building’ represented by a wooden block, with a prominent decora - Black annealed steel wire tive feature found in so much of the Beaux 66.04 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm Arts architecture, sitting on the surface. Using materials out of context is a consis - tent aspect of my work giving them an ambiguity that draws the viewer’s atten - tion, questions preconceived notions of value and suggests new meaning.

Column Ill Column I Column Il

10 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 11 CLAUDINE GÉVRY

Metal wire is a simple, malleable medium, appeal. Their elegant curves and their which offers endless artistic potential. By delicacy call for a more subtle sense of building the outlines of shapes, I create a forms. They still have a symmetric ap - sense of volume where there is emptiness, pearance but their order is broken by slight sculpting in the air as I form the wire. and discrete disorder. They assume their Influenced by innovative sculptors work - decorative appearance, not pretending to ing with this same medium, like Alexander be anything else, as details are added for Calder and Ruth Asawa, I strive to create the sole purpose of being attractive. unusual yet elegant forms. Intriguing Gracious and weightless, these column’s viewers with a false impression of looking outlines dare to be different. They fearlessly at two-dimensional drawings, the structure stretch to the sky and tend to a future we changes appearance as the observer moves cannot fathom. around the structure and challenges the mind as to what it is really viewing. In keeping with the exhibition’s stylistic Column I (Left ) theme of Beaux Arts I am presenting a Sculpture, 2020 stylized rendition of decorative columns. Black annealed steel wire Columns were one of the architectural 58.42 x 12. 7 x 12. 7 cm characteristics of Beaux Arts . My metal wire columns are a whim sical response to Column II (Upper right) the classical columns, which were often Sculpture, 2020 used in construction. Black annealed steel wire Whereas the columns of the Beaux Arts 45.72 x 12. 7 x 12. 7 cm architectural style had the appearance of solidity and longevity, my columns look Column III (Lower right) frail and temporary, reflecting the time Sculpture, 20 21 we live in. From the vantage point of the Black annealed steel wire 19 TH century the future may have looked 66.04 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm more predictable. With our present strug - gles and the climate crisis, our future appears more impermanent and uncertain. Created by men, the columns of the Beaux Arts Movement had a very masculine feel with their grandiosity and strong vertical lines. Created by a , the columns presented in the exhibition have a feminine

12 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 13 SARAH GROVES

Calder X Les Beaux Arts plays with juxta - Calder X Les Beaux Arts posing traditional formal elements of les Mobile, 2020 Beaux Arts with the spontaneity of a 20 TH Copper, , music wire, patinas, century art form explored by Alexander lacquer, mono-filament, Calder: the mobile. This mobile consists of nine stylized anticlastically raised birds 96 x 71 x 45 cm and incorporates selected elements of les beaux arts—symmetry, realism, theatri - cality and polychromy. Suspended below a leading apex bird, the other birds, matched pairwise for colour and type of metal, are arranged in two descending rows of four birds each. Nudged by subtle air currents, the configuration of the birds is constantly changing. At moments the birds are symmetrically aligned in a nod to les Beaux Arts; at other times the birds move in a whimsical in the tradi - tion of Calder.

14 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 15 SUPANITCH (MELODY) JUTHAMONGKOL

Designed as a centrepiece similar to bas- Hang in There relief carving in pediments, Hang In There pin, 2021 (Upper ) delivers a waggish scene of a rabbit, hang - Sterling silver with telescopic set ing in there…hanging from a wire bonsai— Russian and a manipulation of 44 strands of 0.4mm Cabochon sterling wire bundle—and not giving up! 85 x 85x 17 mm Festoons are Classical decorative details carved into Beaux Arts architecture. Stay Stay Merry (Lower ) Merry consists of two components: A Pin set, collar chain/ link, 2021 pair of collar pins, depicting two cheeky Depletion gilded and reticulated sterling, squirrels, one peeking out of and another bead sliding into reticulated sterling tree hollows. Pin I (Squirrel Head) An autumn-leaves link, featuring small foliage clusters of over 80 individual leaves 19.5 x 34.3 x 1 7mm and silver granules, that can be worn as a Pin II (Squirrel Tail) chain between the two pins or as a bracelet. 18.8 x 32.5 x 15.5 mm When assembled, securing the autumn Link: 163 x 21 x 5.5 mm leaves link between the two pins, Stay Assembled: 108 x 60 x 1 7mm Merry takes on the structure of the festive foliated arrangement. A single red Jasper bead represents unity commonly present in festivities, and of each component of the piece. The two works’ are inspired by statuary sculptures, stonemasonry, and relief carvings. To reflect that, the main mode of finishing is sterling depletion gilding to achieve a white surface comparable to the earthly construction materials.

16 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 17 KRISTEN KRIEVIN

My vision is to enhance daily life through Morphiosity (Left ) the reintegration of ironwork design. I Walk-around sculpture, 2018 aim to develop a visual language in iron Forged and fabricated steel, wax through cultivating a true collaborative relationship with the material; the iron 41.2 75 x 30.48 x 2 7.94 cm forges the smith, as much as the smith To Each His Own (Right ) forges the iron. Walk-around sculpture, 20 21 I approach iron design from my charcoal/ Forged Steel graphite drawing background. Seeking 45.72 x 27.94 x 25.4 cm ways to express myself in the plasticity of iron, I cross-pollinate my visual language with references of classical Masters of Iron Art. Influences from Gothic and and the technical challenges therein work to spark fresh ideas within the framework of my aesthetic language.

18 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 19 EMILY LEWIS

In my jewellery work I am interested by the Decadent Balance 1 (Left ) impact of jewellery and craft historically. I Neckpiece, 2019 work with motifs from Berlin Iron Work Copper, powder , , jewellery, William Morris wallpapers and synthetic hair and . The polit - ical and cultural importance of craft and 48 x 48 cm jewellery work in these eras feels particu - Decadent Balance 2 (Right ) larly pertinent today, especially the arts Neckpiece, 2019 and crafts movement. Copper, powder coat, pearls, I use simplification and repetition to cre - synthetic hair ate my pieces, layering motifs until the 48 x 48 cm original meaning is diluted, transformed, or lost. Graphic lines and bold colours are used in non-noble materials to create production pieces as well as one of a kind works. I explore the sentiment of the jewellery object and its emotional weight. The body adorned and the body as adornment are recurring themes.

20 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 21 PEGGY (MARGARET) LOGAN

The completed work is mounted on a wood The Figure background that sits under the copper Wall Plaque, 20 21 enameled piece. I chose enameling to , copper, wood represent the figure of Audrey Munson because it is more painterly in its function. 45.72 x 60.96 cm When doing research on the Beaux Arts Movement I realized it preceded Modernism and many of the artists who worked during this period were swept aside for the on - slaught of and contemporary thinking. My father being very much in favor of this being a modernist architect had a deep influence upon my aesthetic. Unable to shake this visual perspective I decided to look for a lasting form to have come from the Beaux Arts era. The female figure is what I chose to work with. I came across an article about Audrey Munson, the model in New York and the US, who appeared in countless 20 TH cen - tury statues of the Beaux Arts Movement. She was considered America’s first “Super Model” Her form was objectified in sculp - ture as the classical ideal beauty. I’m not a sculpture but in my heart: a painter. The painting movement of Marega’s time was impressionism. Contemporary enameling allows for impressionism to occur as part of the natural flow of the creative process. In this image the nude model is turned away from the audience with her arms crossed in a defiant gesture more repre - sentative of the times, we live in.

22 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 23 CLARISSA LONG

From the Memento Hic series: Memento Hic I Using techniques based on bas-reliefs, Brooch/wall piece, 20 21 a common decor motif from Beaux Arts, Plaster, wood, magnet these works are clay prints of the land - 7 x 7 x 2 cm scapes that surround me and casted in plaster. Each textured form is an emblem Memento Hic II of a still life sculpture. Created during Brooch/wall piece, 20 21 a time of confinement, these works are Plaster, wood, magnet imprints of a captured moment in time. 7 x 7 x 2 cm As a memento mori is an object that serves as a reminder of inevitable death, Memento Hic III these objects can serve as a Memento Hic, Brooch/wall piece, 20 21 a reminder of being present. Like the Plaster, wood, magnet decorative plasterwork of Charles Marega, 7 x 7 x 2 cm used to adorn the rooms of Shaughnessy’s finest homes, these plaster and wood with a magnetic back, become wall pieces when not worn on the body. However, the fragments of buildings rep - resented in these particular works differ from the prestigious neighbourhood of Marega’s patrons. The prints are taken on walks around my studio in East Vancouver, throughout a community of former indus - trial buildings turned into artist studios. As of late, many of these studio spaces have been lost to commercial and residential rede - velopment. The future of this creative hub is fragile and brittle. These brooches taken from the shells of these spaces of cre ation, are small monuments, proof of what is and what one day may no longer be. Each piece can be worn as a brooch on the body, displayed on the wall, and interchanged endlessly.

24 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 25 LINDSAY M AC DONALD

This brooch, called In Simulacra is com - In Simulacra posed of hand carved mother of and Brooch, 2020 a mother of pearl simulation salvaged from Hand pierced mother-of-pearl, vintage vintage plastic cutlery handles. Marega and cutlery handles, sterling silver, acrylic, the Vancouver expression of Beaux Arts steel coincided with the integration of new technologies in architecture and design and 7 x 7 x 2 cm the growth of the . The demand Chainmaille Multi Structure from the middle class to participate in Pendant/ luxury culture drove the development of 14K , hand pierced mother-of-pearl, plastics. Early plastics mimicked natural sterling silver, acrylic, 18K gold bead chain materials like , tortoise shell, coral and and prompted European and North 5.5 x 2 x 1 cm American to develop from Art Nouveau to what would become known as Art Deco. I am interested in the tensions that inhabit the objects of epochal times. Just as Marega's Iions were suggestive of both the past and the future, this brooch and pendant/ring structure explore new experimental modes of wearability while referencing technical of the past.

26 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 27 KEVIN M CALLISTER

This piece began as an investigation into The piece can be worn by placing it over Beaux Arts architecture in Vancouver. It your head, where it rests around the neck focuses on the Canada Permanent Building like a regular collar. However, the rook/ (now Century House) at 432 Richards castle can be tighted around the neck Street. As I explored the building’s details, transforming it from a decorative collar my idea morphed into a piece representing piece into a more sinister piece: the hang - colonialism in Canada. My design is based man’s noose. on three elements—a rook or castle rep - resenting European governance, a beaver representing the land and culture already Colonial Noose here, and a handwoven chain representing Necklace, 20 21 both the beaver’s tail and a noose. Bronze, 3D printed polymer, The rook/castle was created digitally and Argentium silver 3D printed using modern materials. The 495 x 140 mm chain was hand woven from bronze wire using a traditional Viking weave technique. The bronze surface became copper plated created by the annealing process. I have chemically removed part of these oxides to restore the bronze colour, creating an ombre finish that transitions from copper to bronze. The beaver was the sticking point of the design. I struggled to find a meaningful way to represent the beaver, exploring sculpting a realistic representation and making a conceptual representation based on the hatbox used to hold Hudson’s Bay Company beaver skin . I recently discovered fur trade silver, which is silver jewellery that was traded to Canadian First Nations by European fur traders. It took various forms, including small silver beavers, which inspired the hand-fabricated simplified silver beaver that completes the piece.

28 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 29 SUZANNE NAIRNE

My piece references three architectural Western today). With reference elements of the Beaux Arts style—the arch, to Marega—Taylor, who commissioned the pediment with its elaborate ornamen - him to create the Lions, asked Marega to tation, interior space. It is the combination put his (Taylor’s) baby booties inside one of the classical with various decorative of them! Obviously, not a truly secret act, styles in Beaux Arts architecture that Taylor must have desired some of that defines it, and challenges notions of the grandeur! Of course, there is the issue of conservative constraints of the Academy. the Mussolini bust by Marega. It is not a The idea of Gesamtkunstwerk —unity of secret that he did the work, but his motives design and decoration—suggests modern are unknown. I prefer to think that it was approaches. It is said the architects worked due to financial need. The bust, which is within the context of the social values of in the basement of a local museum, has been the day. turned to face the wall. Someone wanted to downplay any idea of grandeur on exhibit Beaux Arts was/is considered the French by secreting it away. national style. Public buildings in France and elsewhere that illustrate the Beaux Arts are grand, massive, imposing and Examined Grandeur ambitious to reflect an era of expansion. Pendant/wall piece, 20 21 I hope to visually express this with an emphasis on scale. Sterling silver, acrylic, paper, pastel, charcoal, pencil, car paint, steel wire Arch—the entrance consisting of facades 58.5 x 24.5 cm with repeating arches appear intimidating, yet visually striking and elegant to me. Pediment—incorporates elaborate details such as bas relief, cartouches and swag! The intention of these details is to glorify the purpose of the building and the people involved. I see here an almost overdone display of enormous national pride. Interior space—arches led to multiple interior spaces with the most significant — the very small open pocket box with secrets to be discovered. There are many secretive activities that must take place in such grandiosity. (see

30 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 31 CHRISTINE PEDERSEN

Staring at the neighbourhood-variety pale do we value that in our culture? What is it yellow and purple irises outside my 1941 to know that without conscious effort to studio window, I made a triptych of iris capture a thought, it will be gone. petals: monumental, bright, and colourful. I it necessary to work on a large-scale Iris petals represented in humble, non-pre - with the ideas, in addition to the jewellery cious, world-changing metals: aluminium, pieces I made. They have richly detailed brass, and copper. Aluminium only moved surfaces developed entirely by hand, using into large-scale industrial production dur - traditional techniques of form - ing the Beaux Arts period, after 1886, and ing, raising, forging, and surface detailing continues to be essential for ornament and through repoussé as well as chasing with construction world-wide. These elemental small punches. Creating purely ornamental or alloyed materials can persist essentially sculptural hand-made pieces in this way is unchanged, and will far out-last their a continuation of the Beaux Arts tradition. makers. Though change, the act of deco - Inspiration from the tall ‘standards’ and ration and creating symbolism appears to horizontal ‘falls’—the biological names be fundamentally important to humans. for the two types of petal, or perhaps a Some of us are driven to create because stereotypical view of the life of a flower it adds something to our time in the sun: or a person—gave me the petal titles. The we choose to capture thoughts. Maybe largest petal is bright youth bursting into that need for contemplation is at the root full bloom, with a golden period of sus - of what we are? tained beauty and presence, and a richly coloured, deeply contoured smaller form “The development of consciousness in moving into inevitable decay. That sense human beings is inseparably connected of our own limited time in the sun. I thought with the use of metaphor.”—Iris Murdoch a lot about the film Iris. (1970). The Sovereignty of Good. p75. Routledge. I am asking how we see each other, how we see ourselves at different ages, how mar - keters focus, prioritize, and differen tiate All About Iris: The Standard Iris, Iris age groups and (re-in)force simplified per - In Her Prime, and Iris After Her Fall ceptions. How our mind sees for itself— the Penfold sensory homunculus showing Wall-mounted sculptural metal panels. proportions of our brain dedicated to our 2012/20 senses. How wisdom and knowledge need Aluminium, brass, copper, leather, epoxy. to be acquired over time, how cognitive Hammer-formed, raised, forged, repousséd, research shows our minds to be malleable and chased like metal, able to learn at any age—how 91 x 50 x 8 cm

32 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 33 PAMELA RITCHIE

While fulfilling many of the tenets of beauty Suspension and practicality, large architectural struc - Necklace, 20 21 tures such as the Lions Gate Bridge are Wood, foam, polymer, metal, fabric alien to the natural landscape—disturbing the local ecosystem, and at times displac - 11 .5 x 8 x 2 cm ing entire communities. This is the point of departure for the subject matter of this neckpiece. I cannot pretend that one neckpiece can possibly conjure up all the considerations that the above statement may entail. But, through its use of colour and opposing geometric and organic forms, I believe that the visual impact of this neckpiece— titled Suspension —is intentionally ambigu - ous enough to provoke questions about its subject matter. With its various possible interpretations, the title may itself be a clue. However, when worn, the piece must rely on its visual presence to stimulate a dialogue. To facil i- tate that dialogue, I have contrasted a tree- like form against what may appear to be heavy constructed beams. Painted grey and black, they can be con - strued as something somewhat morbid— or possibly as a reference to the complex relationship between human and nature. Finally, to maintain the bold dark appear - ance without physically over-burdening the wearer, I have chosen materials that are light weight and pliable. Appropriately for the meaning of the piece, some of those materials are natural, while others are man-made.

34 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 35 DAVID ROBINSON

Mythic Atlas, on whose grave endurance has rested the weight of the whole world. Beneath this new world the sinew of the old hero goes slack. The titan shrinks from the task, now loathe to endure the unbearable lightness of the terrestrial body in question.

“What consolation is there for the painter, say, who, upon completing the careful execution of a fine little picture with his right hand, looks down and is transported by the raw and swirling beauty of the palette in his left? These cascading and volute shapes are simple exultations in form. Their elemental complexities are to sculpture what birdsong is to music. Stop, attend, and they will insinuate pattern and significance. Pattern and significance, now relegated to the subjective realm, in these instances take on the conceptual form of personal homage. As I attend to the assemblage of these unlinked concatena - tions, there wanders variously to mind the attenuations of Giacometti, the erosions of Moore, the flailing sinew of Boccioni, the swirling drapery of water.”

Atlas 2/9 Heraldic Figure Sculpture, 20 07 Sculpture, 2015 Bronze, steel, aluminum , limestone 198. 12 x 50.8 x 50.8 cm 41 .91 x 19 .05 x 63.5 cm

36 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 37 MONIKA URBANIAK

I often create narrative pieces The Lion Inside that reflect stories that peak my interest. Brooch, 2020 The Lion Inside brooch explores the theme Marble, sterling silver, polyester sponge, of Beaux Arts through a contemporary pearls, crystal interpretation of classic motives and ma - terials, such as a hexagon marble tile, 10.16 x 6.35 x 1.016 cm silver garland of vines, a medallion bezel, pearls and a white crystal gemstone. A non- traditional element of a polyester sponge in the colour of lion’s fur symbolizes the absorption of new learnings and technolo - gies in Beaux Arts architecture. It also doubles as a nod to Charles Marega’s Lion’s Gate Bridge sculpture and imitates the lion’s fur in the cut out outline of the sit - ting lion in the back of the brooch. The title The Lion Inside, references the element of strength and grandiosity expressed through Beaux Arts, while playfully point - ing to the “hidden” image on the other side of the piece. The offshoot of the white crystal gemstone to the side symbolizes the transition into more contemporary expressions of the style.

38 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 39 CAROLYN YOUNG

Shells have been used for artistic expres - Reimagining Blombos sion and body adornment since the very Neckpiece, 20 21 earliest human culture. Just as Beaux Arts Wood, washi, upcycled , yellow ochre architecture, sculpture, and design merged pigment, acrylic. Steam bent, laminated, novel materials with neoclassical forms, painted, constructed my latest art jewellery project, Conchology, combines abstracted shell forms with con - 41 x 15.5 x 3.3 cm temporary and exploratory materials. Reimagining Blombos Ironically, as the pandemic has progressed Brooch, 2021 and we have spent more and more time Patinated brass, stainless steel. Patinated, “at home,” I’ve felt farther from my origins formed and constructed, near the ocean than ever. I see these shells 11 x 4 x 3.2 cm (dm of shell: 3.2 cm) as amulets, tiny vessels in which to carry both past memories and future hopes Conchology through the waves of current catastrophic Pendant 1, 2020 events. Made of light-weight materials, Mylar, sterling silver, nylon-coated sterling including laminated paper-thin wood and silver cable and stainless steel cable. washi, mylar, and sheet brass, their arched Formed and constructed (38 cm pendant) forms are both delicate and strong: reflec - tions on human fragility and resilience. 8.5 x 7.5 x 2.5 cm

40 BEAUX ARTS BEAUX ARTS 41