Interviews

Gallery Lulo in Healdsburg, California, is a collaborative effort between artist Karen Gilbert and Anne-Katherine Schjerbeck. Their gallery has grown in the past three years, and recently they opened an additional space. This month’s show Re:Work Sculpture and Accessory is the first one in the new space and features the dexterous artist Emily Bixler. It has been interesting to observe the blurring of the lines between disciplines in contemporary jewelry, and this show is an excellent example of it.

Susan Cummins: Your work is a blur of sculpture, craft, fiber, and jewelry. Would you explain your educational background?

Emily Bixler: I entered Pacific Northwest College of Art (Portland, Oregon) as a painter but quickly shifted focus after my first welding class. Form and the placement of objects in space mesmerized me. I started experimenting with installation and the way an entire room creates a composition. Sculpture opened up a whole world of materials and textures as well. The school I attended did not have a proper fiber department, however, so I would lug my sewing machine around with me to class. Post college I had several jobs that I sought out as opportunities to explore methods of craft—working in the knitwear industry, as a milliner’s assistant, seamstress, and jewelry designer.

Given the recent political juggernaut in the USA, it is only fitting that we consider what is going on in another part of the world. This time it is Thailand.

The AJF’s ATTA Gallery is in Bangkok, and Taweesak Molsawat is the artist who is questioning the politics of his country with a show called The Missing Elements of Democracy: Art Jewelry as a Political Critic. This is an excellent example of an exhibition that attempts to use jewelry to political and critical effect. See if you think it succeeds.

Susan Cummins: Taweesak, would you describe some of the missing elements of democracy in Thailand?

Taweesak Molsawat: The word democracy originates from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) or ‘rule of the people.’ This is the direct democracy system. The core concept of modern democracy is ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth’—this is indirect democracy. This concept has not worked as it is supposed to in today’s political system in Thailand. There are many significant factors that cause problems, but this body of work focuses on two elements: the politicians and the people (citizens of Thailand). These two elements—the real representation of the people and an understanding of the true concept of a democratic electoral system—have been missing in Thai government. The politicians are not representatives of the people, and democracy is not just a vote for personal gain.

Stefan Friedemann and Laura Lapachin, owners of Ornamentum Gallery in Hudson, New York, trained as metalsmiths in Pforzheim, Germany. It was there they met fellow student Sam Tho Duong. Now these many years later, the three are still connected—one is an exceptional artist and two run an exceptional gallery.

Sam Tho Duong has developed a very clever way of using yogurt containers to make elegant necklaces with surprising variations. His show is called lemitcA, and no I didn’t make a mistake with the name. All the images in this article are of the same piece—how fascinating is that?

You can find the story of how Ornamentum Gallery came into being, Stefan and Laura’s thinking about the jewelry market, and their favorite pieces on our website.

Susan Cummins: Sam, for a number of years you were working on a series called Frozen, which consisted of necklaces and brooches with branch-like forms covered in tiny pearls. This new work looks entirely different. Can you tell us how you started working on it?

April Higashi’s Shibumi Gallery, in Berkeley, California, is having a wonderful show by Japanese artist Liisa Hashimoto. The installation of the show is very energetic and imaginative, like a playground.

Susan Cummins: I understand that you live in Osaka, Japan, but went to school to learn metalsmithing in America. Is that correct, and if so, can you tell me who you studied with and where?

Liisa Hashimoto: Yes, I live in Osaka now. I have my studio here, too. After graduating from high school, I went to America and learned metalsmithing under Ms. Yoshiko Yamamoto at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.

This month Gallery Loupe is celebrating a birthday date.  Both Thomas Gentille and Peter Skubic were born on August 11 and so the gallery has paired them for the show Birthday Boys.  I have separated the interviews into two parts, so each artist can have his say – as brief as they are. This is part 2.

Susan Cummins: Although you were born in Yugoslavia, you have spent most of your life in Austria. Someone once told me that Austrian jewelers believe in fairytales. Do you think that is true?

Peter Skubic: No, only when they go to Hanau where the brothers Grimm were born . . . said Helen Drutt.

You have taught at a number of schools. Can you give me an example of an assignment that really challenged your students?

I always challenge my students. It is central to my teaching.

Were you trained as a goldsmith?

I was never trained as a goldsmith. I learned it by myself. I was trained as an engraver in FACHSCHULE IN STEYR.

This month Gallery Loupe is celebrating a birthday date. Both Thomas Gentille and Peter Skubic were born on August 11 and so the gallery has paired them for the show Birthday Boys. In the contemporary jewelry world these two artists are well known, well collected and are respected for their pioneering work. Eileen David and Patti Bleicher, the owners of Loupe, said that they are interested in showing the work of historically significant artists to help put all the other jewelry they show in context from time to time. I have separated the interviews into two parts, so each artist can have his say – as brief as they are.

Susan Cummins: Thomas, you have a reputation as a perfectionist. Do you see yourself as such?

Thomas Gentille: No, I don’t.