In the beginning of the presentation, I spoke about how I was introduced to metalsmithing. In what really seems to have been by chance.... I had taken a metals class winter quarter of what was suppose to be my last year at the University of Washington. I was truly drawn to the medium and changed both my majors so I could get a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metals.
In these next few slides, I spoke about what influences my studio work as well as showed examples of my studio work and BFA thesis.
Currently, a lot of my studio work has to do with my culture, family, memories, travel, and change. I am continually drawn towards the search for “lost memories”. The reason I say lost is because I lived through these big changes in my life that I was too young to remember and I only know of from my family.
I would like to share with you a piece of my powerpoint presentation that tells a bit about what influences my studio work as well as describes my BFA thesis (which was about my families journey to America):
"I am going to give you a brief background about my roots, so you can better understand what influences a lot of my studio work. As mentioned, I was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1984 at time in Poland’s history when it was occupied by the Soviet Union. Communist Poland was far different from what Poland is today, thus my parents wanted a better life for my brother and I.
So in the summer of 1986 my parents decided to leave everything that they knew behind. They had to abandon everything that they had and fit whatever was left into our Volkswagon Beetle. We drove all the way from Poland to Italy, before we were able to come to America. Between are moves to Italy and Detroit my family and I would look through garbage, which people threw away, for things that were useful in every day life. I think these experiences are important to who I am and the kind of art that I design. In my studio work, I like to incorporate found objects that have to do with that period in my life. I think it is essential not to forget the past because it helps to understand myself now."
After this, I went into detail about each of the images from my thesis work and what inspired each one.
In the next few slides, I shared images from my 80's revisited series. In the first slide, I showed how I approach making pieces both in my studio and production work. (I like to first look at found objects, then at any pictures that I may have, and finally sketch out my ideas before I even start to make a piece.)
I had shared with the audience, how my collaboration with Christy Pelland, who is a photography, and Melissa Anderson a hair and makeup stylist for this photo shot was a bit different from my usual work because of the 80’s theme required for the project.
With these pieces, I challenged myself to remake and rethink the way you look at vintage jewelry and a certain period in time.
In these pieces, I was drawn to making something unique from mass produced pieces that came from a period which had no historical context and was more oriented towards fashion.
Tomorrow I will share with you the second half of my presentation.
