September 2015 - Velvet da VinciVelvet da Vinci

This exhibition shows a number of different approaches to amber, running the gamut from artists working with amber for the first time, to those who have been working with it for an extended period. The contrasts in these works should help to update the traditional and still rather one-sided view of amber jewelry, showing new possibilities about this interesting material. Amber, fossilized tree resin, has been appreciated for its color and inherent beauty since Neolithic times.

Curated by Heidemarie Herb.

Philip Sajet, Potatoe Chip Ring, 2015, Photo: Beate Klockmann

Philip Sajet, Ring, 2014, White gold, amber. 3cm tall. Photo: Beate Klockmann

Philip Sajet, Potatoe Chip Ring, 2015, yellow gold, amber, 2.5cm. Photo: Beate Klockmann

Philip Sajet, Potato Chip Ring, 2015, Yellow gold, amber, 2.5cm. Photo: Beate Klockmann

Herman Hermsen, Mona, 2015 (pendant/necklace), 2015, Amber, wood, photoprint on aluminum, 12 X 7 cm

Herman Hermsen, Mona Necklace, 2015, Amber, wood, photo-print on aluminum, 12 X 7 cm

Herman Hermsen, AllaDali (Brooch), 2015, shark yaw, amber, gold 15 x 8 cm

Herman Hermsen, AllaDali Brooch, 2015, Shark jaw, amber, gold, 15 x 8 cm

Gisbert Stach, Golden Toast 3 Brooch, 2013, Baltic amber, transparent silicon, stainless steel. Photo: Gisbert Stach

AT-Schnitzel_Gisbert_Stach_Baltic amber_silicone_1000

Gisbert Stach, AT-Schnitzel Brooch, 2015, Baltic Amber, transparent silicone, stainless steel

Peter Skubic, Untitled Brooch, 2015, Amber, coral, stainless steel, 9 x 8.5 x 2.7 cm. Photo: Petra Zimmermann

Petra Zimmermann, Untitled Rings, 2014/2015, Amber, polymethyl methacrylate, gold

Christiane Förster, Brooch, Untitled, 2015, Amber, mother-of-pearl, silver, 5.7 x 5 x 0.7 cm

Christiane Förster, Untitled Brooch, 2015, Amber, mother-of-pearl, sterling silver, 5.7 x 5 x 0.7 cm

Heidemarie Herb, Untitled Rings, 2014, Amber, sterling silver. Photo: Silvana Tili

Heidemarie Herb, Neckpiece: time, 2014, silver, brass, iron, natural rope, baltic amber, 13 cm. Photo by: Silvana Tili

Heidemarie Herb, Neckpieces: Time, 2014, Sterling silver, brass, iron, natural rope, baltic amber, 13 cm. Photo by: Silvana Tili

Beate Klockmann, Ring, Untitled, 2015, Gold, amber, Plastic

Beate Klockmann, Untitled Ring, 2015, Gold, amber, plastic

Beate Klockmann, Earrings, Untitled, 2015, Gold, amber, Plastic, 40 x 40 x 20cm

Beate Klockmann, Untitled Earrings, 2015, Gold, amber, plastic

Helfried Kodré, Untitled (Ring), 2014 amber, silver, gold, cupper. Photo: Helfried Kodré

Helfried Kodré, Untitled Ring, 2014, Amber, sterling silver, gold, copper

Elisabeth Defner, Pendant, Amber, sterling silver, 10.3 x 3 x 3cm

Elisabeth Defner, Ring, Untitled, 2015, Cooper, silver, Opal, amber

Elisabeth Defner, Untitled Ring, 2015, Copper, silver, opal, amber

Hilary Pfeifer: Save Our Souls

Aside

Hilary Pfeifer: Save Our Souls

An installation of endangered birds from the Pacific Flyway.

October 1 – 31, 2015

Artist’s Reception: Friday, October 2, 6-8pm

As a craft influenced sculptor, Hilary Pfeifer brings together years of study in many media, including woodworking and furniture design, metalsmithing, ceramics, bookbinding, letterpress, photography, fiber arts and more. She received her BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft in 1999.

In addition to several public art works including the Randall Children’s Hospital, Oregon State University, and the Portland-Milwaukie Orange Max Line opening this fall, Hilary’s artwork is in the permanent collection of the White House, The Center for Art in Wood, and the Museum of Contemporary Craft.

Pfeifer Artist Statement, Save Our Souls:

My artwork explores the ways that humans attempt to control nature, and in turn, nature finds a way to adapt or reassert itself–such as the grass that grows in the cracks of a sidewalk or mildew that forms on an uninsulated wall behind a couch. I express these struggles through craft-influenced sculpture and installations.

A physical object is often the foundation of my work. When I was asked to participate in the Recycled Rain Project, my mind went immediately to rain sticks, as I have been using the motif of a walking stick for the past decade. When I started researching the history of rainsticks, I learned that the Aztecs used them as a ceremonial tool for bringing rain to their crops.

Around the same time, I was thinking a lot about the Audubon Society’s Birds and Climate Change Report, issued last fall. This report looks at the current direction our culture is headed and makes the claim that half of this country’s birds will be extinct by the year 2080 if we don’t take action now. I chose to immortalize nine songbirds from their list who currently inhabit the Pacific Flyway.