Metalsmithing and Jewelry

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/180170

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Open Access
Adeline Gavin: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Gavin, Adeline, artist
The artist's statement: Life without emotion does not exist. Love without passion is not love. For me, art has become a deep and constant affair with materials and meanings. Sometimes I create with a clear purpose and I make exactly what I desire to create. Other times, I create for the pure joy of exploring materials. I enjoy constructing pieces that have meaning and substance but also beauty and elegance. The process of exploration, growth and struggle all play into my constant desire for this process in my daily life. Recently, I have been focusing on embracing personal independence and strength. I believe that finding acceptance and peace in solitude is important as an artist and an individual. Growth has always been an overarching theme that I have been drawn to. The idea of cherishing every stage of growth and existence is not always easy. However, I believe we should embrace each unique moment. Passion has led me as an artist to see the unique beauty within every stage of life, even failure and loss. Growing from such situations is where true beauty and strength lies.
Open Access
Angela Grenga: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Grenga, Angela, artist
The artist's statement: There is movement in every aspect of life. Movement is the essence of life, from the smallest atoms in our bodies to our planet functioning as one living organism. I am influenced by movement in the elements and how it relates to the world that surrounds us. I explore movement in the element of water through aquatic themes, specifically water dwelling creatures and the fluid motion of water. Through the use of kinetic elements in my work I connect the fluidity of movement to explore the element of air. The element of air is also evident in the study birds and flight. I explore the element of earth through the use of my materials, metal and stone. Specifically, I am interested in unique stone settings and fabrication of settings designed around the stone. The element of fire appears in various hot fabrication techniques, and in themes of fire and heat. My work captures the experience of these four elements as we move through the world around us.
Open Access
Avery Rush: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Rush, Avery, artist
The artist's statement: In my artistic practice, I explore the delicate balance between beauty and grotesqueness. My fascination with the unusual, mysterious, and spooky has been a constant throughout my life. By embracing objects, materials, and imagery that are often associated with negative connotations, I have been able to evoke a sense of empowerment through body adornment. My artwork not only allows me to express myself creatively but also enables me to gain a deeper understanding of my relationship with the world around me. By confronting and accepting the parts of myself that I have previously deemed unworthy or shameful, I am able to heal the inner wounds that have been inflicted upon me. My creations serve as a representation of acceptance and self-love. Through my art, I have learned the importance of sitting with uncomfortable emotions and experiences, allowing myself to fully feel and understand them. This practice has taught me to be comfortable with all aspects of myself, both positive and negative. As I continue to produce new works, I am empowered to be my most authentic self and to share my unique perspective with the world.
Open Access
Ayla Sirois: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Sirois, Ayla, artist
The artist's statement: I have always been drawn to shiny things—the way a mirror finish sparkles in the light has enamored humans for millennia, and I'm no different. This deep attraction is what led me to love the material of metal and the endless possibilities it holds. In its raw and natural form, metal can seem unassuming, but it has a distinct voice. Much like we do, it has needs, wants, and limits. When I listen and take the time to get to know the metal I’m working with, it becomes one of the most beautiful and expressive materials. I try to bring this respect for the material into every part of my practice. One of the most important parts of my process is taking the time to ensure that my technical work—especially during fabrication and refinement—is as seamless as possible. I do this in hopes that someone might see the same natural allure in metal that I do. My goal isn't just to make beautiful, shiny things. I want to create pieces that remind people of how mystical and meaningful life can be. Every material I use from the metal itself to the stones I set are intentional choices I make in order to imbue my work with a little bit of luck, protection, and fortune. In my most recent body of work I delved into this, bringing objects of power like talismans and amulets into modernity by melding them with my glittery aesthetics. So, while I hope my pieces catch your eye from across the room, I also hope it's the deeper intention behind them that truly draws you in.
Open Access
Brandisrose Hughes: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Hughes, Brandisrose, artist
The artist's statement: My work is about exploring color and form to create jewelry that is functional, fun, and sophisticated. Specifically, my interests lie in creating pieces that combine child-like color and pattern with forms that are organic and biomorphic in nature. Through the use of specific color combinations and patterns, my work creates a dialogue that speaks to the bold, more playful side of the wearer. In contrast, my organic forms and use of dramatic curves and shapes give each piece a very clean, sophisticated feel. My process involves both the exploration of physical and visual aesthetic along with the intentional use of precious and semi-precious materials to help create a visual experience that is evocative, playful, and tasteful. These pieces are intended to engage the wearer's senses in multiple ways while bringing attention to the relationship between color and form.
Open Access
Brody Cox: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Cox, Brody, artist
The artist's statement: My approach to metal centers around form and color. Whenever I start a piece, I push the final version to be visually transformed from how it started. How can rigid metal be seen as natural and organic? What if the color of copper became jet black? These are the types of questions I ask myself when making work, and the ones that push my material to take new shapes and depictions. When designing a project, I am always drawn towards ambiguity and abstraction. My favorite pieces leave the viewer uncertain, but wanting to know more. The mysterious and weird nature of my work tries not to be objective, so it can be read differently from person to person. It is a challenge to make something visually abstract, but also carry intentionality. I am constantly trying to find this balance as I work, but I am the most satisfied when I do.
Open Access
Charis Christopher: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Christopher, Charis, artist
The artist's statement: Charis Christopher. Ephemeral Undulations at Tea Time. e·phem·er·al, /əˈfem(ə)rəl/, lasting for a very short time, synonyms: temporary, momentary, brief, fleeting, impermanent. un·du·late, /ˈənjəˌlāt/, move with a smooth wavelike motion, to rise and fall, surge, swell, heave, ripple, billow, flow, roll, etc., synonyms: curve, wind (snake-like), wobble, oscillate, fluctuate. Conscious vitality is an undulating dance of life and death. Balanced on a knife's edge, the two sided coin of our lives has every opportunity to wobble and weave between what is empirical and what is enigmatic. Harnessing my passion for metals I introspectively explore understanding the life I am given, my choices and actions and their resulting affects, and the inevitability of my death. A handmade mahogany-stained tea trolley sporting steel-rimmed wheels symbolizes gumption, determination, and understated style. These are personality traits of mine that support my ideals which are manifested in the metal works I create. I work in copper and silver with an emphasis on fabrication, riveting, raising, chasing and repoussé, chain making, and wearable art. Throughout history, copper has been thought to bring warmth and balance to its surrounding environment and silver is associated with the moon and stars, memory, purity and spirituality. When coupling the motherly strength, sturdiness, and assuredness of the warm, earth-centric copper with the bright, ethereal, silver it may bring balance and understanding of the two sides of existence: the experiential being and the mysterious otherness. Curling tendrils of steam symbolize an individual's choices and the outside influences that sculpt the path of one's life. Steam, smoke and rising vapors are visual reminders of the inevitability of death through the mere passage of time; sit watching a hot cup of tea long enough and the steam rising off it will disappear only remembered by the condensation left on the cup's walls. Spiraling whiffs of smoke and steam and death are natural. I believe endings should be acknowledged while still alive so that life may be enjoyed to the fullest. I plan to travel through this ephemeral life knowing this is all the time I am given to dance the most beautiful undulations I may choose for myself.
Open Access
Chelsea Moller: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Moller, Chelsea, artist
The artist's statement: As both a textile and metal artist, I see a special relationship between these two materials that, at first appearance, both seem vastly different. Metalwork and textiles have a shared history of ornamentation and body adornment, as well as being a part of everyday life. All of us use metal on a daily basis from the utensils we eat with, the cars we drive, to the jewelry we wear. I am passionate about the transformations that metalwork and fiber art goes through to create a variety of textures, shapes, curves and lines; the way they can be crafted to appear delicate and fragile yet are strong. I enjoy the processes required to turn raw material into recognizable items; for example, the process of raising a flat disk of copper into a rounded vessel. I show this in my work by using pattern and structure to create narratives that honor this process. Many of my metalwork functions as tools that facilitate transformations within my fiber work. In this way, I use metals as a conduit to facilitate changes in other materials. For example, this is both seen and accomplished in my drop spindle called The Three Fates. This narrative shows the cycle of wool being transformed into cloth; it displayed on a drop spindle that functions to create yarn. This symbiotic relationship is an overall theme in my work. I make beautiful tools that tell the story of the transformations of fiber while also functioning as a contemplative object that reflects the work that it creates as well as a piece to be admired by the maker who uses them.
Open Access
Colin Smith: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Smith, Colin, artist
The artist's statement: My works are details. They are the objects that bring a story to life, and story is something I engage in depth. My work is sited in a land of fiction, and I want my viewer to explore that fiction; to allow themselves to be immersed and excited about a world, and a story within that world. Through fiction, viewers will feel a connection and want to know more about each object that is before them: what is it, what is it used for, who uses it? I want them to ask questions. For the viewer to be curious. I am also interested in the concept of culture itself. What is needed to create a culture and how can I clearly present that? This body of work serves to help define a fictional society through the lens of the artifact. I provide the viewer with a glimpse into the world that these objects came from. These cultural artifacts are paired with written context in order to better explain each piece as well as the culture I have created for them. In this way, I provide the viewer with a glimpse into the world that these objects inhabit. Through these objects the story becomes more inviting and the viewer is more likely to investigate it further. Writing and making are two processes that I use to express my imagination and creativity. Separately, each can result in beautiful work, but when they are combined they create something more. I am able to breathe life into my pieces by providing them with a world to live in through writing. My stories, too, are made tangible by being paired with a physical object. For me, writing and making enhance one another and allow me to present my work in a complete form.
Open Access
Conner Dobson: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Dobson, Conner, artist
The artist's statement: Over the last four years, I have been through three separate abusive relationships, each one leaving me with worsened depression, anxiety, and body image. Combined with an inability to confront my past derived from toxic masculinity, this negativity dominates my mental state. Since finally admitting all that I've been through, my work has been driven to fight the emotional and psychological weight that I have carried for too long. By shaping vessels, I find that I am able to share this weight. In the same way my body carries the burden of my story, each vessel I create bears a unique story fragment, either a single event or an arduous journey within my life. At once, the story fragment is memorialized and stored away, the associated feelings and their baggage now shared between the vessel and my body. Rather than a burden, each story is instead a lesson, and it's vessel a way to open up. Yet I am not ready for the world to hear my story, at least not all of it. In achieving a much needed balance, I looked to a font that I had designed early in my art career. Though initially a child of boredom, this font ended up being the perfect way to open up about my struggles. The font reads as English (it is not a completely new language), but it is nonetheless something only I can decipher. By using the font, I am able to overtly place deeply painful stories into each piece without the viewer judging me for my past. In a sense, the font and the work enable me to open up and share my stories with the world, but not necessarily the people in it.
Open Access
Daniel Westhoff: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Westhoff, Daniel, artist
The artist's statement: My artwork poses metaphysical questions that analyze what constitutes the human mind, with the intention of better understanding our ends and motives as a society and a species. My process is an introspective one, enhanced by the slow and contemplative nature of metalwork. In creating an object, I learn more about myself, using each piece as a visual model for the issue I think upon. Through the content of my work, I invite viewers to engage in a similar mental process. My recent work is an exploration of the mind, and its inner workings. Each aspect, or faculty, provides a unique function in overall sentience. Our intuition supplies us with a foundation through which we can understand the world. Our perception is what manifests our experiences, and each vantage renders no experience the same as another. Through our reason, we can solve problems and determine the best course of action. Through our will, we enact our agenda and forge our destinies. My aim is to understand how each of these faculties operate and relate to one another, and turn the inquiry into physical objects. I portray these mental faculties as keys because of the way in which each of them, when used properly, grants access to new places and new states of mind. The process involved in making these pieces is as important as the final product. The choice of metal, and the techniques and elements used in each key, relate to the specific faculty represented. In this way, each key is imbued both materially and conceptually with the essence of my inquiry.
Open Access
Eisen Tamkun: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Tamkun, Eisen, artist
The artist's statement: Every day we experience thousands of interactions, both big and small. It is easy to get caught up in the speed of everyday life; to forget the who and the what which have shaped us into the persons we are today. There are moments which hold a great deal of meaning and those which hold very little, and yet all contribute to the being we become. Each one has gifted me with an understanding of myself and the world around me. I am also fortunate to have a family that has taught me a great deal. This body of work focuses on these relationships and experiences in my life, and the influences they have had on me as a person. In my piece Links, I focus on the overarching experiences and situations which shape us into the people we are. Each ring is unique. They are arranged in a way that loosely map my own meaningful experiences. This work is also intended to allow the viewer to find their own story within the chain. Through the process of examining different qualities and patterns of the links, they may contemplate their own life experiences and reflect on the moments that have significant, either great or small. Siblings, is a series of work representing the relationship with my three siblings, as well as myself. Each piece uses topographical lines drawn from our birthplaces. The brooch format provides a platform from which each relationship can be displayed. When worn, the front is facing out, a projection into the public space. The back, however, rests against the wearers body, close to the chest, hidden from sight. The color seen on the front of each piece represents the perception each sibling has of themselves. The colors found on the back side are interpretations of the emotions I feel when thinking about the relationship we share with each other. The piece Disperse, is specific to my challenges of being a twin. Forming an individual identity alongside my twin was an ongoing struggle throughout childhood. Each fetal form can be detached from the piece and be worn as a brooch. This separation, not only from the body of the piece, but from each other, emphasizes the severance of children from the safety of home. The realization that we have our own obstacles to overcome and our distinct talents to help us do so, aids in the construction of our own separate identities. The exploration and creation of these pieces gives me a greater appreciation for the interactions which shape our lives.
Open Access
Emily Andersen Arends: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Andersen Arends, Emily, artist
The artist's statement: Every women's body tells a unique story: the stages of her life, the tasks her body has undertaken, and the wonders of its many shapes and forms. Wrinkles tell the story of the past. There is a beauty in how the events of our lives are displayed on the canvas of our skin. Through my work, women are open to be proud of the smooth skin of their youth as well as the wrinkled skin of their future. A woman's body changes after the vessel of her womb has been filled and emptied. Also, the stages of aging manipulate the shapes of her form. In my work, vessels that are worn or stand-alone enforce the idea and metaphor of containment. These vessels are meant to give an internal and external aspect of invited interaction. There is a desire and a privilege of knowing and experiencing what is inside. From the vessel of the womb, to the wrinkles and shapes of the female body, I have explored and celebrated what it is to be a woman through my eyes.
Open Access
Emily Yodis: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Yodis, Emily, artist
The artist's statement: Every 7 years the body turns over every cell essentially creating a whole new body, a new person who looks, feels and acts differently. I am a completely different woman than I was at even 16 years old. In my life I have had a tumultuous relationship with my body and the concept of sex; specifically, intimacy and pleasure. I view this collection of work as a reclamation of bodily autonomy and understanding, helping me find love for a new body that has never seen such harsh criticism. Safety, comfort, ownership, reclamation, understanding, overcoming are all processes that I work through in life, but also within my metalwork. Mental power, sexual power, and physical strength/integrity are concepts I embed in the physical creations I produce. My jewelry is directly connected to the location of the body on which the piece is worn. It is in conversation with my ceramic work, which also references the body, but in an abject style. These vessels give the viewer an uneasy, uncomfortable, and even disgusted reaction. Social constructs about how some parts of the body are seen as beautiful while others (and sometimes even the same parts) are seen as disgusting fascinate me. I explore these ideas in my piece "The Beauty of Something Unbeautiful", in which I contrast couture-style jewelry with the less glamorous location of the foot. Femininity, sex from the female perspective, and stigma about attention and the act of "showing off" also interest me. My piece "Spineless" engages these themes through taking the central structure of the human body and displaying it in a more vulnerable position on the naked human back. The consistent theme within most of my metalwork is the reclamation of my own body. Growing up as a woman there was tons of pressure to fit the ideal body type, even though the ideal body type has changed so much just in the 23 years I have been alive. Making amends with my body has empowered me to finally accept not necessarily what I look like, but the idea that my body is a vessel that contains who I really am. This reconciliation has brought me peace and happiness, and helps ground my artmaking process. Finally coming to terms and accepting my physical form has been one of the most prominent struggles in my womanhood. Many women have gone through similar experiences as I. For me, the most important part of healing is channeling my experiences into the physical manifestation of objects that are both vulnerable and strong.
Open Access
Gabrielle Andreozzi: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Andreozzi, Gabrielle, artist
The artist's statement: Reclamation, Reconnection, & Rebirth of The Sacred. Shields depict imagery that bring power and take on the symbolism of what they are meant to protect. For centuries, these objects have carried weight of meaning within battle as well as through their visual displays of honor and adoration towards one's name and historical achievements. Traditionally rooted in patriarchal ideals of family heraldry and war, I am reclaiming this object to honor my identity that has come to be so sacred to me. My most recent work is an exploration of my path to becoming a woman, through a visual manifestation of my own personal narrative. There have been pivotal traumatic moments in my life in which respect for my womanhood and my feminine identity have been compromised, causing me to close myself off to my own empowerment and validity - disconnecting from the divine feminine and my perceptions of the goddess that had been deeply instilled upon me by my own mother when I was young. I have held on to many memories that have caused me to react to the present moment out of fear and anger - feeling vulnerable and unprotected. These shields are realizations of my feminine strength and how I am repositioning what I saw as threats into allied mentors, helping me to gain wisdom and move forward on my personal journey towards my own enlightenment, while letting go and forgiving - and most importantly, forgiving myself.
Open Access
Grace Roh: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Roh, Grace, artist
The artist's statement: My desire for art making has everything to do with my need to make a mark, an imprint, or an impression. I find my peace within the physical act of art making and through the process in which an object is created. The process of meditation through repetition is one of the ways that I have learned to come to terms with the rest of the world. My practice is selfish. I am constantly creating artifacts of myself, whether they are tangible or purely metaphysical. These artifacts serve as a portal to connect myself with the rest of the world, and are used in my performances of ritual and ceremony.
Open Access
Haiyin Liang: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Liang, Haiyin, artist
The artist's statement: As an artist, I grew up in China and traditional Chinese culture inspires my artwork. In this rapidly-developing society, Chinese people pay less attention to our traditional cultures and history. However, I believe it is important to carry forward our culture heritage, because it embodies the spirit of our nation. Particularly, traditional Chinese arts have a long history and hold the intelligence and ideals of the Chinese people. My artwork is associated with these traditional Chinese arts, and is informed by the styles and subjects of Chinese landscape painting and fine brushwork painting. I express the literary pursuits that ancient Chinese scholars always practiced, and place the viewer in a moment that has poetic and pictorial splendor. I aspire to bring elements of traditional Chinese art into contemporary metal and jewelry artworks to emphasize that Chinese art does not only speak to the past, but is culturally relevant in the present. Moreover, I enjoy the idea of fusing beauty with meaning to attract viewers' attention and move their hearts. I have taken forms from some objects that existed in China since the ancient period, such as a room screen, a fan, the Pipa (a traditional musical instrument); and using imagery that has special meanings in China, such as the crane, the phoenix and the plum. For example, the crane is a significant symbol in Chinese history that represents high loyalty, nobility and faithfulness. These symbols also embody personal cultivation. I emphasize the importance of personal cultivation because it not only relates to personal development but also connects and contributes to the thriving of a country and nation.
Open Access
Haley Ruybal: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Ruybal, Haley, artist
The artist's statement: Throughout my life I have made it my goal to make beautiful things for people to enjoy, but I have come to realize that beauty alone does not get anyone very far. Along with my passion for the arts, I am very aware of the privileges and disadvantages that I have both as a woman, and more specifically as an indigenous woman. I am intrigued by the ways that my two passions collide and have a much farther reach than simply focusing on just one or the other. By bringing my desire for social justice and my skills as an artist together, I hope to bring greater awareness to the issues facing both Indigenous peoples and communities that are not generally talked about or taught. My sincere hope is to be able to start a conversation about tribal sovereignty, race and commonly held misconceptions that permeate American society. In my most recent series Colonization, I discuss the ways in which individual objects can be used to describe specific spaces in time in relation to the colonization of Indigenous populations in America. This three-piece series highlights pre-, post- and de-colonial ideas and ways of thinking to shed light on the issues of historical trauma and invisibility of Indigenous issues and people in the larger American society. These works are a tactile representation of the effects of colonization on individuals as well as on broader, societal ideology.
Open Access
Halle Motley: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Motley, Halle, artist
The artist's statement: My work is inspired by the transformative power of narrative. I take stories rich with meaning and emotion, and translate them into a physical form. Through metal, stones, and time, I strive to transport the viewer into the narrative while also triggering their mind to process and think about the narrative in new ways. My practice is deeply influenced by religious art's historical role in non-literate societies, where visual elements bridged gaps between written scripture and public understanding. Such art transcended language, class, and age barriers, whether sharing stories broadly or preserving them for select audiences. In this tradition, I distill complex narratives, religious, historical, emotional, personal, into digestible visual elements that can be both viewed and worn. My work tells the story of pivotal moments in my personal life and in the grander scheme of time, all that radically shape who I am. My recent body of work draws inspiration from my transformative trips, how they deepened my relationship with God, and changed my view of life. Witnessing how ancient stories manifested both through centuries-old artwork and in the natural landscape revealed complementary interpretations that I now weave together to share these narratives with contemporary audiences. Each technique, fabrication, gem or stone setting, or casting, is chosen specifically to enhance the storytelling. For example bronze has rich associations to historical transformation and artistic tradition, and carries cultural weight that influences perception. When I use bronze, I hope that the long history of bronze being used in sculptures as well as in the foundations of society are brought to one's mind. Every metal and stone embodies meaning that I deliberately harness. Through these material choices and techniques, I create objects that communicate stories, while honoring the ancient tradition of making meaning tangible.
Open Access
Hannah Chatham: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Chatham, Hannah, artist
The artist's statement: I cast and manipulate parts of my body to create wearable conversation pieces. Curious forms evolve from transformative processes, such as combined wax-casting and digital modeling. Focus on orifices symbolize the importance of listening to your guts, or inner voice. These devices playfully explore the interior and exterior, indulging sensuality and humor.