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Artist Statement:
A small child trails obediently behind her
family through the grand halls of the Art Institute of
Chicago during one of their frequent visits. Finally she
comes upon a painting that’s on her own eye level! Seurat’s
La Grande Jatte is so big that she can actually gaze
straight into the lower parts where she memorizes the
gazillions of small contrasting colored dots. Stepping back
brings the thrill of seeing how those little dots have added
up to one very large picture. A revelation! That’s when I
began to notice detail, to see how many, many small things
could add up to something very large, to appreciate the
structural layers of objects, and to cherish color. These
axioms continue in my work today.
My mother
was a professional hobbyist. During her copper enameling
period, I watched for hours as she sat at the kitchen table
turning dull powder into vibrant colors inside her trinket
kiln. I made my first piece of jewelry with her at age
five.
Years
later, life took me to an art school in a small town in
Mexico where an enrollment snafu accidentally sent me to my
first jewelry class. The facility was about as crude as my
ability to understand the teacher’s technical Spanish, but I
had found my new love of metals and returned to Indiana
University to get my MFA.
Today,
there are few joys greater than having a productive day at
the jeweler’s bench, gathering those wisps of creativity
into a finished form. Sawing, filing, forging, and
soldering create the direct hands on connection to my
materials that makes the most sense to me and charts my
designs. My primary material is sterling silver. I use
stainless steel for structural considerations and aluminum
for lightness, and, most importantly, color. Aluminum
requires that I invent ways to combine it with other metals
without the use of solder. These cold connections offer new
ways of defining relationships and lend possibilities of
movement within the work. I often place playful elements
within a formal, engineered, spatial structure. The
playfulness comes as parts rotate, interlock, slide, spin,
flex, and flip.
Space is the most important design element in
my work. I want my work to be dynamic and commanding of its
own space. It should also redefine space when it’s being
worn. I enjoy the duality of a piece of jewelry – that it’s
one thing by itself and another when combined with the human
form. I believe that jewelry should be as dynamic as the
human form on which it’s worn. It should be an object of
beauty that distinguishes itself, and that distinguishes the
person who has chosen to own it. My works are completed
when they’re being worn and treasured by their new owner. |
Artist's
Website:http://www.debralynngold.com |
