Small Scupltures
My greatest understanding of femininity is from my upbringing as a traditional Southern woman. My family taught me to be a “girly girl” with great emphasis placed on my figure, clothing, hair, make-up as well as being properly trained in domestic skills. The pressures of being a Southern woman – the ideology of marriage to a capable provider and my duty to raise a family; at most I could become a teacher, a stereotypically female role.
It was obvious as a small child, my talents were in the visual arts. I thrived in art class, had private instruction and focused on the visual arts in high school. As an active leader in school organizations I had aspirations of becoming an art teacher. My high school experiences were primarily two-dimensional. During my first two years of undergraduate school, strict emphasis was placed on design and drawing. During my junior year I took a metals class as an elective. It was then, during my first three-dimensional experience, that I became so passionate about metal that I believed it chose me. As a girl, tools were considered inappropriate and unfeminine. The development of my hand-skills through sawing, filing and forming soon proved to be powerful expressions of my femininity and sexuality.
Extremely comfortable with myself, I discovered in graduate school that I could embrace my femininity and celebrate it through female forms. It is ironic that by using traditionally male-oriented tools, I could make feminine art focusing on the beauty of the dress form. I express my views of womanhood and femininity through representational art. I use the traditional metalsmithing techniques of fabrication, shell-forming, and raising to create hollow constructions. I have been greatly influenced by the work of master metalsmith, Marilyn da Silva, and the sculptor, Judith Shea. I had the privilege of working with Marilyn at Arrowmont and Penland during graduate school. What she offered me through technique and dialogue was a life changing experience. As a metalsmith, I work with non-ferrous metals; specifically copper and sterling silver. Because of the precious nature of the material that I use and my experiences, I draw from two worlds: jewelry and metalsmithing; hence I work on a small scale. I focus primarily on ornamentation. Miniature objects maintain the integrity of the metal while alluding to the beauty of decorative surfaces such as fabrics and icing.
It was obvious as a small child, my talents were in the visual arts. I thrived in art class, had private instruction and focused on the visual arts in high school. As an active leader in school organizations I had aspirations of becoming an art teacher. My high school experiences were primarily two-dimensional. During my first two years of undergraduate school, strict emphasis was placed on design and drawing. During my junior year I took a metals class as an elective. It was then, during my first three-dimensional experience, that I became so passionate about metal that I believed it chose me. As a girl, tools were considered inappropriate and unfeminine. The development of my hand-skills through sawing, filing and forming soon proved to be powerful expressions of my femininity and sexuality.
Extremely comfortable with myself, I discovered in graduate school that I could embrace my femininity and celebrate it through female forms. It is ironic that by using traditionally male-oriented tools, I could make feminine art focusing on the beauty of the dress form. I express my views of womanhood and femininity through representational art. I use the traditional metalsmithing techniques of fabrication, shell-forming, and raising to create hollow constructions. I have been greatly influenced by the work of master metalsmith, Marilyn da Silva, and the sculptor, Judith Shea. I had the privilege of working with Marilyn at Arrowmont and Penland during graduate school. What she offered me through technique and dialogue was a life changing experience. As a metalsmith, I work with non-ferrous metals; specifically copper and sterling silver. Because of the precious nature of the material that I use and my experiences, I draw from two worlds: jewelry and metalsmithing; hence I work on a small scale. I focus primarily on ornamentation. Miniature objects maintain the integrity of the metal while alluding to the beauty of decorative surfaces such as fabrics and icing.
