July 8 – August 7, 2015
Artist’s Reception: Friday, July 10, 6-8 pm
San Francisco’s Velvet da Vinci is proud to present Lisa & Scott Cylinder: Blinding the Cyclops. The show will run from July 8 through August 7, 2015. An opening reception with the artists will take place on Friday, July 10, from 6-8 pm.
Husband and wife artist team Lisa & Scott Cylinder began collaborating in 1988, shortly after studying Jewelry/Metalsmithing at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Their long-term partnership has produced an ongoing series of one-of-a-kind sculptural jewelry, which often incorporates found objects and epoxy resins into their metalwork. Lisa & Scott Cylinder: Blinding the Cyclops will debut a new body of work by the duo, made by repurposing and altering parts from musical instruments, games, antiquated tools, and more. During a 2014 interview with Smithsonian.com, Lisa Cylinder described the inspiration for their process as follows:
“It’s a soul thing… the things we use were touched by somebody. Once you see those pieces, you identify a moment in your life with that particular object. The tool that someone used in making something—there’s sweat on it, there’s toil on it. A musical instrument—someone played it. The human contact is part of what we do, and the reason we select the objects.”
Work by Lisa & Scott Cylinder can be found in prominent private and museum collections on a national level. Highlights include the Racine Art Museum Racine (WI), the Museum of Contemporary Arts & Design (NY), the Gregg Museum at North Caroline State University, (NC), and the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) “Bird in Hand” Miniature Collection (MD). Their work has been featured in publications such as METALSMITH magazine, Lapidary Journal, American Craft, and Larkin Books’ “500 Brooches,” “500 Necklaces,” “500 Plastic Jewelry Designs,” and “500 Gemstone Jewels.” The artist team presently lives and works in Oley, PA.
LISA & SCOTT CYLINDER
Artist’s Statement 2015
Blinding The Cyclops has been a new chapter in our artistic Odyssey. After 27 years of making representational work, we have charted a new course away from our comfort zone. Representation had become our Cyclops, and in order to free ourselves we needed to escape from our captor. This action has enabled us to grow, change, and challenge ourselves as artists and problem solvers in a tangential manner.
Although our fascination with found objects (especially musical instruments) continues, their use as materials has become further abstracted. Their deconstruction has been pushed farther and the outcome is purposefully less representational. We have reinvented our working methodology as well as our subject matter. This giant step has enabled us to develop a new vocabulary referencing Design and Technologies of the 20th Century, the time in which our aesthetics as makers were formed.
Blinding The Cyclops represents an epic creative adventure. Wielding the same techniques and materials from our past works, we have challenged ourselves to create a fresh group of wearable objects that subvert what had become familiar. We continue to change and challenge ourselves in our quest to create intriguing, well-crafted hand made objects in the 21st Century.
To download a full press release PDF, please CLICK HERE.
Manual Necklace, 2015, Bronze,sterling silver, nickle silver, vintage clarinet parts , epoxy resin, felt, 23ky gold leaf, paint, 3.25 x 1.5 x 0.5″ pendant- 20″ necklace
Grinder Brooch / Pendant, 2015, Brass, nickle silver, sterling silver, vintage clarinet parts, stainless steel, epoxy resin, celluloid, bone, 23ky gold leaf, paint vinyl, green onyx, 3.75 x 3 x 0.75″
Quartet Necklace, 2015, Bronze, sterling silver, vintage violin parts, paint, 3.5 x 2.25 x 0.5″ pendant- 18″necklace
Receiver Brooch, 2015, Sterling silver, bronze, stainless steel, vintage violin parts, celluloid, paint, 3 x 3.5 x .75″
Red Flash Ring, 2015
Sterling silver, vintage clarinet parts, 22k bi-metal, epoxy resin, celluloid, paint
Size 7.5
Cyclops Necklace, 2015, Bronze, sterling silver, nickle silver, vintage clarinet parts, epoxy resin, felt, stainless steel, 23ky gold leaf, paint, 3.5 x 2.5 x 1″ pendant- 20″ necklace
Transistor Brooch / Pendant, 2015, Sterling silver, bronze, nickle silver, vintage violin parts, epoxy resin, paint, 3.5 x 1.75 x .75″
Transistor Necklace, 2015, Brass, sterling silver, vintage saxophone parts, celluloid, vinyl, bone, paint, 3 x 1.5 x 0.5 pendant- 20″ necklace
Transistor Ring, 2015, Sterling silver, vintage saxophoneparts, bone, celluloid, paint, Size 8
Vibe Brooch, 2015, Brass, sterling silver,nickle silver, vintage guitar and clarinet parts, bone, vinyl, lapis lazuli, paint, 5.75 x 2.75 x 1″
Siren Necklace, 2015, Sterling silver, brass, stainless steel, nickle silver, vintage clarinet parts, celluloid, lapis lazuli, 23ky gold leaf, paint, 4.5 x 3.75 x 1″ pendant – 20″ chocker
Proteus Brooch/Pendant, 2015, Bronze, sterling silver, nickle silver, stainless steel, vintage violin part, celluloid, bakelite, bone, 23ky gold leaf, paint, 4.75 x 3 x 1″
Thump Necklace, 2015, Sterling silver, nickle silver, vintage saxophone parts, vinyl, green onyx, felt, paint, 3.25 x 2.5 x .5″ pendant – 17″ necklace