Links: A Collective Knowledge: From the Beginning

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

From the Beginning

September Recap:

To recap on Wednesday's meeting, we welcomed Dr. Jennifer Salahub and Mireille Perron to the team as writers of the introduction and afterword sections of Links , and Adele Jones has kindly offered to edit our statements and biographies. We also shared our artwork with Jennifer, Mireille and Amanda, and saw a beautiful portfolio of Amanda's work. The "Title Wars" followed and after a long, and entertaining brainstorming session we decided on Links: A Collective Knowledge as we all felt that a sense of community is integral to our group's dynamic and creative processes.

Other tidbits of information: we found out what needs to be done for the CIP publication data and are now moving to create our own ISBN number to leave as a legacy for future jewellery collectives at ACAD. Louise Chong also wants to meet with our class in the near future to speak about how to handle this kind project as she has experience from the Impressions book.

We have created a new email account devoted entirely to Links: A Collective Knowledge book project. This is the email where we will manage all incoming and outgoing information, questions and comments regarding the book.

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The fourth year Jewellery/Metals majors at the Alberta College of Art + Design have undertaken the writing and publishing of a book.

Our book, Links: A Collective Knowledge, is a compilation of works created by an intimate group of sixteen emerging Canadian artists. Links documents the diverse explorations and directions that the group members pursue. The group practices ongoing communication and critique, facilitating their creative evolution. This project solidifies the bonds of community which have developed between them.

The book contains essays by Dr. Jennifer Salahub and Mireille Perron creating an important addition to the historical discussion of contemporary craft. Copies of this book will be distributed to galleries, libraries and institutions across North America.

The Links project managers, Justine Lockhart, Katie Kimber and Andrea Earl, as well as our class, would like to include our instructors biographies and headshots in the bio section in the back of the book. As well, Dr. Jennifer Salahub is writing an introduction and Mireille Perron an afterword for our book and would like images, artist statements and bios to reference in their essays.

No comments:

Anna Barclay

Anna Barclay is a Canadian-based artist with roots reaching across the world. Her education includes, McHenry County College, Illinois, as a student and teaching assistant, and Terri McCarthy’s instructional studio in Wisconsin. Barclay’s Bachelor of Fine Arts, in Jewellery + Metals comes from the Alberta College of Art + Design, Calgary Canada.

Anna’s work is based in formal design, complex technical forms and mythological concepts. Her passion includes the investigation of materials and their limitless potential. These materials include metal, glass and fiber.

Anna has lived in the Middle East, South America and the United States, before moving back home to Canada. The diverse experience in culture and travel in her life has given her a unique view of the world.

Amanda Clark

Amanda Clark was born and raised in Ancaster, Ontario. She grew up on her family farm with her father and grandparents. Living on a farm and exploring the surrounding habitat helped to keep Amanda grounded and connected to the natural environment. From an early age, Amanda realized that her favorite subjects in school were art related. As a teenager she received her first film camera and entered a local photography contest in which she won first place in the student category. Amanda chose to pursue her love of photography at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario where she earned a diploma in Applied Photography. To broaden her understanding of the arts, Amanda enrolled in an introductory jewellery course at Alberta College of Art + Design. She enjoyed the new-found challenge that jewellery presented and is now pursuing a BFA majoring in jewellery at the college.

Andrea Earl (Co-Director of Project LINKS)

Andrea Earl is an international artist. Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Andrea was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan enveloped within a rich visual arts culture. She began her arts studies at the Ann Arbor Art Center and the College for Creative Studies (Detroit), and returned to Canada to pursue jewellery and metalsmithing at the Alberta College of Art + Design. She further strengthened her skills through study at Penland School of Crafts and working for metalsmiths Helen Bunch and Sharon Donovan.

Andrea has been recognized with numerous awards for artistic, technical and academic merit including the Student Legacy and Queen’s Golden Jubilee scholarships. Her artwork has been exhibited throughout North America, including the 2009 SNAG Conference: Present/Represent. She is not only devoted to her art; she is dedicated to her peers. Andrea is a leader, teaching assistant, tutor and mentor and endeavours to pass all of her knowledge and experience to her contemporaries.

Charlotte Furneaux

Charlotte Furneaux is a diverse Canadian craftsperson and artist who found her beginnings in the South of France where she discovered her love of photography. Living in the rolling hills and vineyards inspired her to express herself in art. Upon returning to Canada, she studied photography and jewellery design. Charlotte now combines these two mediums to communicate her passion for narrative and family history.

Charlotte believes that life's experiences are one of the best teachers an artist can have. She shares those events through construction processes and mixed media. Dedicated to passing on her experiences to her contemporaries, she teaches others so that they can learn from her knowledge and she can, in turn, learn by sharing those encounters.

Matthew Hartnett

Matthew Hartnett was surrounded by creative and artistic minds early on in his life. This early exposure instilled a desire to become a creator like so many of the important people in his life. A sculptor, painter, jeweller, and armourer, Matthew is always experimenting, researching, and pushing himself. He has created a diverse and visually charged portfolio. Living in Canada, Matthew has dealt with themes of family identity and history while playing with futuristic and technological subject matter. Mr. Hartnett began his metals career at the Alberta College of Art + Design in 2006. Currently Matthew Hartnett is expressing himself through historically inspired armour.

Megan Jones

Megan Jones is a multi-media artist working in jewellery and alternative fashion. She has lived her life all over Alberta and is now a Calgary based jewellery artist. After an extended trip driving across Canada, Megan learned to appreciate the beauty in life. Flora and fauna, as well as memory and nostalgia are her main inspirations. Through travel, interaction and life experience, she continues to learn about herself and the world around her and strives to translate these experiences into the objects she creates.

Megan has attended the Alberta College of Art + Design, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the Jewellery + Metals program. Through the wearable art performance Avant-Garb, Megan has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Calgary, EPCOR Center for the Performing Arts, Art Central and the Marion Nicoll Gallery. She has also been awarded the Jason Lang Scholarship for three consecutive years.

Yeonji Kim

Yeonji Kim is a jewelry designer whose interest expands into fashion and art. She was born and raised in Korea and moved to Canada in 2001. Having a mother who is a jewellery artist herself, Kim grew up with an abundant exposure to art. The combination of artistic influences and changing environments has given Kim opportunities to experience and observe people and cultures with different angles; she disregards conventional and traditional perception. Kim manages her jewellery line ‘anji.k’, which combines her artistic sensuality with her interest in current urban street fashion and the contemporary art scene.

Katie Kimber (Co-Director of Project LINKS)

Katie Kimber is a second-generation metal-worker and an emerging, multi-disciplinary artist in Canada. In 2004, after an exchange to Bavaria, Germany, Katie attained a greater appreciation for self-expression, cultural diversity and the sarcastic Canadian personality. This experience shaped her identity and practice, as she uses humor and the visual language to communicate her perspective with others.

As a JEWELLER+, Katie has begun building her public presence through numerous wearable art performances in Calgary. She has exhibited in the EPCOR Center for the Performing Arts, Art Central, the Art Gallery of Calgary, and annually since 2007 in the Marion Nicoll Gallery, ACAD. Katie has designed, crafted and performed creations in ArtaWEARness 7, Avant Garb, ArtaWEARness 9, and the Midway group A Brush with Fetish for 2008’s High Performance Rodeo. Katie’s work has been featured through interviews in published papers and televised news such as CBC, FFWD, and Citytv (2008 & 2009).

Alex Krewiak

Performing arts have always been a part of Ms. Krewiak’s artistic life. Alex developed her infatuation for the visual arts in 2006 and quickly enrolled in the Alberta College of Art + Design (ACAD).

Alex has experienced many successes. She has been recognized for her passion and commitment to her education and received scholarships from Imperial Oil and Jason Lang. She has recently performed at the Wearable Art event at ACAD, “Avant Garb”. This work was exhibited in Calgary’s Art Central, Art Gallery of Calgary and the EPCOR Center for the Performing Arts. She has participated in other professional performances, including Pointed Productions, and has been a cast member of a touring show for the Alberta Centennial, “The Time Machine”.

Her performing arts background has forged an interest between art and the body and how the two relate. As costume is an integral part of the performing arts, it has fuelled her passion for fashion.

Adam Lagace

Adam was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, where he currently is a jewellery and metals major at the Alberta College of Art + Design in Calgary. There came a pivotal point in his life that enabled him to go back to school and after much soul searching, the right decision was made. Adam relishes the community atmosphere of Alberta College of Art + Design and regularly helps out fellow colleagues with their projects whether it be technical issues or brainstorming. Being surrounded by the various teaching styles of his instructors along with the indispensable technical advice and guidance has enriched his life and experience beyond measure. He regularly adds to his collection of books on various jewellery and metal techniques as Adam has a passion for learning new processes and combining them. Recently, he has been working with blacksmithing techniques to apply them to jewellery making using tool steel.

Georgia Lee

Georgia Lee is a multifaceted artist and designer who resides in Calgary Alberta, Canada. As an active member in the arts community, Georgia uses her work as an outlet for expressing her societal views and concerns. Her practice encompasses fine art, design and performance. The body of work, Tell me what You See was presented in the exhibition in motion, ArtaWEARness IX in 2009. Miss Lee's wearable sculptures have been viewed at the Art Gallery of Calgary at Artwear, and at Art Central's fifth birthday party. Her skills in organization and project management led to her employment through the Alberta College of Art + Design Student's Association to coordinate the tenth anniversary of ArtaWEARness in 2010. Georgia's accomplishments reach beyond her fine craft practice and into the professional art environment.

Justine Lockhart (Co-Director of Project LINKS)

Justine Lockhart is a visual artist whose work focuses on jewellery and metal-based media. Her objects inhabit a small scale and an intimate nature, the work is intended to interact with the body and evoke different emotional and physical responses.

Ms. Lockhart got her start in jewellery by age seven and soon began to experiment with different jewellery techniques on her own. As she progressed in her knowledge of craft she sought more structured forms of education such as workshops and post-secondary education. Recently her work has been recognized through exhibitions like “Gem Event” and “Metalmorphosis”, competitions like “Spirit Bears in the City”, a public art program in Prince George, British Columbia; commissioned work can be found in private and public art collections.

Justine Lockhart is a facilitator, a leader among her peers, a craftsperson and a professional in the emerging generation of contemporary craft.

Courtney McCarty

Courtney McCarty was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She spent three years living in South-East Asia, mainly Indonesia and Singapore. Born with a creative spirit, early on she expressed herself through dance, figure skating and the visual arts. Courtney now focuses on the exploration of metal. Early in her career she won the “People’s Choice Award” at an exhibition at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Ms. McCarty spoke at a seminar for Women in Trade, her specialty being jewellery making and welding. She was publicly exhibited several times before her graduation. Courtney McCarty is an artist, a welder, a teacher and an art jeweller.

Ashleigh Amber Moore

Ashleigh Amber Moore is a practicing artist working predominantly in metal, but her work encompasses glass, fashion and photography. She has lived all over British Columbia, though she now resides in Okotoks, Alberta. In addition to her visual arts practice, Ashleigh is active in performing arts, including acting and competitive figure skating. Ms. Moore volunteers within her community to support animals and animal rights; these experiences are translated into her professional practice as an artist. Along with her devotion to the arts, Ashleigh is an avid adventurer. Being outside and enjoying the splendors of nature has led her to explore numerous metal techniques that mimic colours and textures in nature. These elements arise from her relationships with various homes and environments in both British Columbia and Alberta.

Tessa Mula

Tessa Mula is a jewellery designer, metal smith and artist. Taking a job at a jewellery gallery/store, she developed her interest in heirlooms and body adornment. While there, she mastered the craft of engraving and jewellery repair. The job experience led her to study Jewellery + Metals at the Alberta College of Art + Design in Calgary, Canada. There she was able to embrace herself as an artist and expand her craft and design skills. Her education gave her the ability to be an independent artist and have an insight into the art jewellery world.

Nature and found objects influence her contemporary jewellery designs and fashionable style. In Mula’s career, she exhibited at The Art Gallery of Calgary, EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts and One Blue Wall at Calgary’s Art Central. Her award winning jewellery pieces have been featured in Numa Model’s Winter Fest Fashion Show.

Frances Strathern

Frances Strathern is a Calgary-born metalsmith, art jeweller and glass artist. At the age of fifteen, she set up her own studio for creating lampwork beads. At the age of seventeen she was accepted into the Alberta College of Art + Design in the year 2006, where she was able to further her education in jewellery and metals. Her work blends together intricate glass beads with metals, woods, gemstones and found objects. Her inspiration arises from nature and the art of diverse cultures from around the world. Strathern, along with her brother, Scott Strathern, has traveled to art shows across Canada where their work has been showcased. As her love for art and its history grows, she hopes to one day open her own gallery and retail business.