MORE THAN METAL:
AN EXHIBITION OF VINTAGE TECHNIQUES AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN
METALSMITHING AND JEWELRY MAKING
Modern works by the students, faculty and alumni of Saddleback
College
November 11 through
Artist Reception:
Free parking in
Directions to the Saddleback College Art Gallery
About the show
This exhibition offers the viewer a window to the past and future
art of forming metal and jewelry making. The techniques are basically the same
but with modern technology and materials, we are able to capture the dreams and
images that are in our minds eye.
Throughout the ages we have felt the need to adorn ourselves for
personal pleasure and esteem. We create functional, everyday objects but with a
small etching, a well placed line, or just with a well crafted shape we bring
simple beauty to our surroundings.
Metalsmithing and jewelry making are strictly separate in their
own rights but they both cross each other’s paths more often than not. This can
take the form of a bracelet, ring, necklace, earrings, pin and other adornments
for many occasions. The function can be purely aesthetic, serve a fashion
purpose, or have an ergonomic function.
Metalsmithing is the formation of metal in a desired shape
through heating, use of tools and/or cast formation. Metals that are used can
be precious (silver, platinum, and gold) or common (copper brass, bronze, iron
and more). The techniques, which are used in the above, can also be
incorporated into jewelry making.
Jewelry has been worn since ancient times by people of all
cultures for personal embellishment, as badges of social or official rank, and
as tokens of religious, social or political affiliation. Jewelry has
been a symbol of grandeur, which is also used by ordinary people. Modern
jewelry reflects important changes in fashions and technology. Newer casting
methods resulted in more sculptural designs and a greater use of different
metallic textures and finishes. In its widest sense the term jewelry
encompasses objects made of many kinds of organic such as hair, feathers,
leather, bones, shells, wood, and inorganic materials, ceramics, glass,
plastics, and metals. Designs are more extravagant and are more representative
of design for its own sake than as a function of the jewel to be worn. All
types of jewelry are worn today, from antique to contemporary. And while the
decorative qualities of the piece are likely to reflect the age in which it was
constructed, the choice usually rests on the fact that it goes well with what
one is wearing, that it suits the occasion, or, more simply, because it is
pleasing.