something to hang on to

trendhunter.com is officially my new favorite website.

I don't know who made this. But it's pretty freakin amazing.

Word.

Fantasy Jewelry

The entire world seems to be in an Alice in Wonderland frenzy, but it doesn't seem at all to be a bad thing...

This fairytale-themed jewelry by Alidra Alic has some absolutely stunning pieces. The collection is entitled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and is inspired by 1800's flora, recreated out of plasic or metal.

I'm attracted to the fantasy element of Alic's work and the way that she desribes the pieces as being " statements of art and worn by those who dare." The jewelry is far from being traditional but has referencial elements that are historic and narrative; something that works very well with the glamorous fashion photos that accompany them.

Love!!

ooooh tires!!!

Just some super cool stuff I came across that people are doing with used tires.



Living room furniture by Repurposed Rubber


Julien Jaborska's tire belt

elephant!!

"In the US, some 280 million tires are discarded each year. That works out to about one tire for every person in the United States. Just over 10% are retreaded. The rest must be dealt with"
-Katie Cordrey

I found all this on trendhunter.com DEFINITELY worth checking out! Lots of awesome stuff!!

oooh la la - lights!!

I found this design studio while doing some etsy surfing. The work is really incredible in it's simplicity of both design and materials. I love the way this ordinary object comes together to create a really interesting pattern that once you add light to is just gorgeous. A lot of times we associate objects with a specific function and if they are not serving that function they are considered useless. I'm really interested in re-using these objects for purposes that they may not have originally been intended for.

Organelle is run out of Vancouver, British Columbia and describes itself as such:

"Our work starts with a simple premise: waste is the most abundant local
resource our cities have to offer. Often free or inexpensive, waste is a
seemingly endless supply, always providing new and exciting design
possibilities. As such, we approach our work from two angles. We are both
searching for found objects to suit specific design program, and
continuously
harvesting available waste materials to derive concepts
from.....Neither mass
production nor one-off custom design, our work falls
somewhere in
between."

The piece above is cleverly entitled Hangelier 2.1 and you can see more at the Organelle website or www.etsy.com/shop/organelle .

Poufs! 18th Century Wearable Art

Popularized by such public figures as Marie Antoinette, the pouf was the epitome of creative hair styles in the 177os. These elaborate hair-doos were created around a thin metal frame that was placed on the head to give the shape structure. The frame was covered with pomade and hair so that it was no longer visible, and the structure was then decorated with feathers, jewels, beads and other ornaments.

Reaching as much as 3 feet tall, these objects became a way for women of the time to express themselves and define their spaces in the most literal way. It is said the Antoinette was even seen sporting a bird cage in her hair at one point. In the late 18th century women were known to adorn their poufs in support of the revolution with ships and other patriotic icons.

Gross factor: Due to the time and money needed to upkeep these styles, some women would attempt to keep the same design for up to a month, in which case the structure was often infested with fleas, lice, mice and other nasty little things!!

More contemporary styles such as the beehive from the 1960's and modern bumps pay homage to the pouf.

art & fear part 2

I really like the idea of whatever abilities you possess being exactly what you need to create good art. A little hopeful maybe, but I think it speaks volumes to the fact that there is no one universal standard of "good" art or a perfect piece.

Although I understand the argument of quality vs. quantity there is still part of me that thinks making crappy things is a waste- not only of time and energy, but of whatever materials as well. I did like the story though, and how making things over and over will help you to perfect your skills and knowledge of the materials so I guess that's just something else to work on.

fluffy stuff: art & fear part 1

The reading was nice- light and easy. Nothing too intense. A lot of feel-good things about how we're all going through the same things... That being said, I can't remember a time when knowing that someone else had the same problem helped me to solve my own, but it was nice all the same. I'm considering it a think piece because although it did absolutely nothing in the way of helping me figure anything out, it definitely got me thinking about things.

The part about trying to make work that is "our own" stood out to me because I feel like that is something that we are all constantly struggling with- always trying to define ourselves, our space, our work. We exist in this strange place and time when both everything and nothing are simultaneously ours to claim. And this can be very frustrating at times.

My favorite words of wisdom??

"The moment of completion is also, inevitably, a moment of loss- the loss of all the other forms the imagined piece might have taken."

....whoa! Very heavy, Dave & Ted. Very. Heavy.

Erin Currier

Diane Nash



Q'orianka Kilcher

School Pen

I like Currier's work because her materials support the message that she is trying to make. Her work is composed of "trash" and found objects combined with really gorgeous imagery. And I love her artist statement. It's very bold and opinionated- and a little wordy but I think that it works well for her purpose.

The Statement:

"Today’s globalized, multinational, international, multilingual, on-line, on-the-grid, for-profit, fuel-driven, free-trading world of satellite-dished-out telenovelas that force feed fast food, Kevlar, Teflon, Zoloft, Botox, Perdue Roasters, and tomato sauce, is one of increasingly fierce conflicts of interest and interest rates, between the conquerors and conquered, dominators and dominated, capitalists and workers, employers and unemployed, overdeveloped and underdeveloped, overweight and underfed, first-class and so-called Third World, oppressors and oppressed, and the blessed and the damned. As an artist born into a system which represents the former, I consequently seek to know and to make known the plight of the ill-understood latter: the nameless, faceless, voiceless, and marginalized, who, as Eduardo Galeano so eloquently puts it (We Say No), “Make history from below and from inside rather than to continue to suffer history from above and from outside.”

As a medium for my work, I have chosen materials that are readily available: the refuse and the packaging of products produced and consumed by every nation, for every nation, and translated in every language, on the planet. I travel the world’s streets collecting the discarded with which to portray the discarded: the women, the mothers, the martyrs,the mothers of martyrs, barrio dwellers, day laborers, forced laborers, slave-wage laborers, shoeshine boys, lady boys, schoolgirls, gang girls, cholos, guerilla poets, Sandinistas, Zapatistas, Chavistas, the indigenous, the indigent, imprisoned, objectified, nullified, vilified, unfortified, unrecognized, silent, forgotten, and ordinary. I especially attempt to lend voice to those who fight for human rights, social change, and who resist unjust established orders. I thus seek to discover humanity and to transform reality by humanizing it through art."

Well put.

Jum Nakao

"We bare ours souls to reveal the ability to be light, dreaming of
unspeakable, impossible, inexplicable, indefinable. There is a possible still
invisible in the real."
- Jum Nakao

Jum Nakao is a Brazilian Fashion Designer, living and working out of San Paulo. Originally, Nakao envisioned himself working in a field with computing and electronics, but quit after he realized these things were too far away human sight.

His website is written in Portugese so its a little hard to understand after being translated, but pretty much I think the images speak for themselves...because these garments are made out of paper!

linn olofsdotter.

Linn Olofsdotter is a Swedish-born artist who works in many mediums, but most frequently illustration. She is educated in both advertising and graphic design, and worked for networks like Fine Living, MTV and Anime network early on in her career. Olofsdotter is currently living in Brazil and working as a free agent for clients in the fashion, advertising and editorial fields.

I'm really attracted to the color compositions in Olofsdotter's work. She has a darker, slightly muted palette that makes some really beautiful work.




Perfume Flowers


Predator, Self Portrait

Oilily, Octopus

Ulrike Hamm.

Ulrike Hamm is a German-born artist who creates absolutely gorgeous jewelry out of parchment (skins of goats, sheep or calves...that part's kind of gross, but the work is beautiful.) She was originally trained as a goldsmith and later attended Germany's College of Design (Fachhochshule fur Gestaltung) to study Jewelry Craft and has since been working as a freelance artist. I'm really attracted to the vibrant colors and organic shapes that Hamm uses in her pieces.

And I really love the way that she talks about her materials and the process that goes into making her work...

“It is a stubborn, mysterious, vivid, precious and unpredictable material that wants to be explored and conquered. Its inspirational appearance and characteristics allow me to constantly discover new aspects and possibilities, which I trace within it.

In order to fully understand parchment I research and explore its features. Various influences such as heat, cold, moisture or acidity bring parchment to its mechanical limits. I develop three-dimensional forms out of a flat surface and test different dying and printing techniques on it. I dye pre-cut parts in various stages in a colour bath, and while they are still elastic I shape and assemble them into jewelry.

The parchment shrinks during the drying process and shapes itself according to its inherent growing patterns. By partly interacting with the process, I achieve an interplay between its natural formation and my active interference.”

Ryan McCourt

The Helmet of Laocoon


Ryan McCourt is a Canadian artist and the winner of the Headdress category at the 2009 Wearable Art Awards in Port Moody, British Columbia.

The winning piece was The Helmet of Laocoon (brass, aluminum, lead and tin), which tells the legend of the Trojan priest Laocoon from Greek mythology. Laocoon was a priest of Poseidon, God of the Sea. Laocoon warned his fellow Trojans against the wooden horse presented to the city by the Greeks. I like that the work has a strong narrative quality.


The helmet "features a nose and cheek guards in the form of the feathers of a sea bird, a brow of crashing waves, clamshell ear pieces, a fish at the forehead, the pate covered by an umbrella, a rearing orca, and more seashells on the back, with hinged strands of seaweed streaming down around the neck. A pair of candles placed in sockets on the front improves night vision." So cool.

McCourt does a lot of various sculptural work but his headress/wearable pieces are by far my favorite.

Lauren Kalman

Lauren Kalman is an odd little bird. She creates art for the body by applying bejeweled accupuncture needles to her skin to look like dazzling rashes, blemishes or other skin conditions. Using her own body as her primary focal point, the work has an element of performance. The photographic record of the work is only for the viewer that is unable to see it in person- it is intended to be seen on the body. Now, I'm pretty sure accupuncture is supposed to be painless, but if you look close in some of the photographs you can see the redness and irritation surrounding the jewelry.

Although I'm still a little confused as to why anyone would want to recreate such conditions as Herpes or Syphilis, I'm intrigued by Kalman's juxtaposition of the beautiful and the unsightly. She refers to her work as "transgressions of the body." I like the fact that she's bedazzling things that we would normally think of as disgusting and try to cover up. And in doing this, she's calling into question both why we have a natural aversion to these things, and why making them sparkly makes them more beautiful.

One writer Gabriel Craig stated that " By beginning with actual bodily experience and moving back to the self-image, Kalman places the primary importance on the body, thereby challenging how we relate to our bodies in an image-dominated culture." I'm intrigued by this reverse process of dealing with jewelry and bodily adornment.

everyday junk: tara donovan.

Tara Donovan is a New York-based artist who creates intricate, large-scale, installation sculptures out of everyday materials (styrofoam cups, scotch tape, drinking straws, etc...).

One thing that I find extremely fascinating about Donovan's work is that she chooses her materials before she decides what can be done with them. I think that working in this order, the materials are the most important part of the work because they define the direction that the work will ultimately go in. I'm also attracted to her seemingly meaningless materials- things that you can see everywhere, all the time. I like the idea of something simple and practical morphing into something complex and delicate.

Untitled, Styrofoam Cups & Hot Glue ( 6'x20'x19'2")

"It's not like I'm trying to simulate nature. It's more of a mimicking of the way of nature, the way things

actually grow."

-Tara Donovan

nel linssen: paper jewelry

Nel Linssen was in the book that Jen was reading in class today (thanks Jen!!). She is a Dutch born artist who creates very intricately designed bracelets and necklaces out of folded paper. What I enjoy most about the work is that it takes something incredibly common place like paper and turns it into something to be admired (not to say that paper itself isn't fantastic but, you know what I mean).

The Scottish Gallery wrote that "the relationship between wearer and viewer is the essence of Linssen's jewelry." This statement really catches my attention because I think that it is a relationship that I haven't figured out yet in relation to both the jewelry that I wear and the jewelry that I would like to make. I also like that the work is made to highlight the body and change appearance with light and movement.

Another writing described her work as "simultaneously minimalist and complex." I'm curious about things that can be two things at once.

Paper & Acrylic Bangles

Long Yellow Necklace

rhinestone annie.

"A labor of love is always a pleasure to see but a passion, well that can and often does leave us breathless."

Anne Collens is an artist from British Columbia who essentially turns ordinary looking objects into spectacular creations using collected bits of jewels, beads, etc. What makes the work even more fascinating is that the pieces are custom fitted to follow the grooves and curves of the objects. Collens worked in theater until the 1960s. When she left, she decided to make an "exotic skin" for her mannequin. This work alone took over 1,000 hours to complete!


Collens' work appeals to my tendency to collect odds and ends of various types and also to my interest in decorating things. I'm captivated by the idea of creating these incredible works by simply putting something over top of what is already there.

Unfortunately, this is where the trail ends. Her name doens't turn up in a search engine other than in the article that I read. But the article did mention the mannequin appearing on television and being on display in a museum so I guess I'll just have to keep looking!

I think I may have found my new idol.

kari byron.

Yup! The Mythbusters chick makes some pretty cool art when she's not blowing stuff up on television. I "bing"ed her the other day for some unrelated reason (I wanted to see who her baby-daddy is because I've always thought her and Grant had a thing for each other...I was wrong) and came across her art website.

One of the most impressive things I found on her sight was the artist statement. Two sentences.

"My work quarantines the world into a more manageable space. The focus is the process, each
piece is a meditation in my desire for a simple understanding of the daily white noise."

How great would it be to say everything you need to say in two sentences?!

I can't figure out how to get the images off the site to put on here. That's probably on purpose. But anyway, she creates a lot of small sculptural pieces using found materials, wood, metal. Little shadow box-looking ones, portraits. Some of them are really great! So check out the site!!

What I like about the work is that it's very personal. And that it serves a purpose for the artist as she uses art as a form of meditation. I'm also interested in the use of found objects.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the site just because I've only ever heard of Byron on television. I like to think that everyone has an artistic side, even if it's not the side that we normally see.

Byron has a BA in film and sculpture from San Francisco State University...but I would never have known that.

Other random note: She was only originally put on the show because they needed a butt model. Nice start.

some initial(somewhat random) thoughts on jewelry

I don't have answers to a lot of the questions about why I'm so attracted to jewelry and decoration. Probably because I've never needed them. So here's where I'll try to explain, figure out, uncover the reasons for the attraction. This is the first part...

I tried to remember what initially attracted me to jewelry, but I don’t really think it was my decision at all. I’ve been wearing jewelry since before I can remember. My ears were pierced when I was a baby. Both of my parents have always worn jewelry so I guess it was natural for them to put it on me as well. Putting on a necklace or earrings was just as much a part of getting ready as putting on a jacket or shoes was. It’s not anything I ever even considered questioning until now.

When I was small my dad would always buy me little rings, usually with my birthstone in them. For some reason that seemed important to him- maybe because it’s something we have in common. I remember when we’d go to the back counter where he would purchase my rings and I would get to choose what pretty little box I wanted to take the ring home in. It was in the back of some sort of drugstore, but that part never seemed strange. Sometimes I got to choose the pieces that I wanted, other times they were a surprise.

I still have the small, heart-shaped crystal charm that has “Macie” engraved across the front. I don’t remember what the occasion was anymore, I just remember that it was one of my favorite things at the time, and somehow it’s survived various moves and remained part of my collection. It's never in any special place, it's always just somewhere. I'm usually surprised every time I discover it. Although I can't seem to recall its importance, I know that it was. And so, in a way, it still is.

For me, the processes of collecting and decorating go hand in hand. In my house (mainly my room and my mother’s room), the jewelry is very much a part of the décor, and therefore the environment. When I was younger my mom used to keep all of her dangly earrings on large doilies that were hung on the wall next to her bed. There were three of them; one giant one in the center with a smaller one flanking either side. I remember how beautiful they looked with all of the beads and metals against the lacey backdrop of the doilies. The pattern would change ever so slightly when she removed a pair to wear, and again when she put them back or got something new. My own earrings now hang from a piece of lace fabric that’s draped over one side of my dresser.

part of the earring collection

Over time, I’ve found my own style. I don’t necessarily wear the same sort of jewelry that either of my parents do. I’ve probably even acquired different reasons for wearing jewelry along the way. But if I had to guess, I’d say that in the same way the display of my jewelry mimics that of my mother’s; my parents are where the obsession started.

Katie's room (my mom)

my room

what try's a charm? artist statement #4

A project always begins with a general sift through the contents of my archive of objects- an ever-evolving collection of everything from photographic images to fabrics, books, paints, beads, ribbons, papers, broken bits of things and everything in between. Sometimes I have an idea in mind and can search through the materials to see if anything fits the idea. Other times it’s the reverse, and the materials that I have on hand inspire the idea and a starting point is created that way. I use what I already have and seek to find what I don’t, and in that way my resources are constantly being altered and added to.

My fascination with creating started out in the form of arts & crafts projects when I was a young child and the interest grew as I did; I’ve been attracted to art in one way or another for as long as I can remember. Growing up, there was always a spot in my house that was dedicated to all the artsy sorts of materials. The “craft closet,” as it was cleverly coined, was a space that I would go to at the onset of boredom to see if I could turn the contents into something fantastic. As I explored these materials I discovered that I could create objects to define my own space- a painting for my room, a bracelet for my wrist.

I’m interested in the ways in which art and objects can define us or our space; what we choose to wear on our bodies, what we decide to display in our homes, and what we create for ourselves or for other people. I’m currently exploring the functionality of jewelry. What it might be, or if it even has one. I am creating pieces that are designed with a specific purpose in mind, not to be only decoration for the body. If jewelry could serve a purpose, what would it be? Is jewelry, by definition, purely ornamental? If these objects become functional, do they cease to be jewelry?

artist statement, third try

My fascination with creating started out in the form of arts & crafts projects when I was a young child and the interest grew as I did; I’ve been attracted to art in one way or another for as long as I can remember. Growing up, there was always a spot in my house that was dedicated to all the arts and crafts materials. The latest of these spaces was cleverly coined “The Craft Closet.”

The craft closet probably started out as a single drawer or maybe a box of some sort...somewhere where all of the "crafty" materials in the house could be kept all together. When I was younger I would investigate the contents of the craft drawer/box when I was bored to see if I could turn them into anything fantastic.

I am captivated by jewelry and decoration. As I explored my materials, I discovered that I could create my own things to define my personal space- a painting for my room, a bracelet for my wrist. I’m interested in the ways in which art can define us; what we choose to wear on our bodies, what we decide to display in our homes, and what we create for ourselves or for other people.

I have a tendency to pick things up and put them back down on a whim. I don’t necessarily always finish the pieces that I start. For this reason, I like things that can be worked on in stages or on the go- things that can be stashed away in a drawer with the possibility of being unearthed some time later with fresh potential- or things that may be completed over a short period of time so that I might move onto the next. My favorite pieces are probably the ones that can do either.

I’m interested in exploring the possibilities of what is already at hand. Pretty much anything that looks like it was or ever could be something of interest makes its way into an ever-evolving collection of everything from photographic images to fabrics, books, paints, beads, ribbons, pretty papers, plain papers, broken jewelry and anything in between. A lot of these items will probably never be turned into anything else. But I find myself holding on to them anyways because I can never be sure.

A project always begins with a general sift through the contents of the archive to see if there is anything that can be used to support whatever it is I’m working on. Sometimes I have an idea in mind and can search through the materials to see if anything fits the idea. Other times it’s the reverse, and the materials that I have on hand inspire the idea and a starting point is created that way. I use what I already have and seek to find what I don’t, and in that way my resources are constantly being altered and added to.

I’m currently curious about the functionality of jewelry. What it might be, or if it even has one. I am creating pieces that are designed with a specific purpose in mind, not to be only decoration for the body. If jewelry could serve a purpose, what would it be? Is jewelry, by definition, purely ornamental? If these objects become functional, do they cease to be jewelry?

As a whole, I view art as a form of expression and individuality. It is not something that can be explained in terms of wrong or right like math or language or science so it becomes particular not only to the person creating it, but also to the people that are interacting with it. The possibilities are infinite because the dynamics are altered with each person that encounters a certain piece of work. Art is something that doesn’t necessarily have boundaries because it doesn’t depend on words to define it, but rather individual experiences and points of view.