BOND Exhibition Artists

“BOND”

Sixth Annual National Juried Exhibition of Fine Jewellery and Metalwork

Nov 30^th to Dec 24^th, 2010

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Lesley Ashton

Hamilton, ON

“Game Time”: wedding rings with stand

Silver, rare earth magnets

$520.00

Relationships of any kind are often about games that are hopefully good-natured; give and take, push and pull. Out on the playground a child’s instinct is what guides them to interact with others. Through play, we innocently seek to bond with others to continue playing. The bond of marriage with all of its bliss and complications should be no different. The symbolic token of exchanging rings can be both confining and enlightening. Like the jungle gym on the playground it takes some physical exertion and imagination to engage with others but in doing so the fine balance of resistance and attraction will guide you. Let the game begin.

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Guy-Yves Hotte

Cowansville, QC

Honourable Mention

“Somewhere in the City” / “Quelque Part Dans la Ville”: ring

Sterling silver, gold, aventurine, agate, amethyst, garnet, jade, jasper, malachite, red quartz, yellow jade

$960.00

Lier l’or et les pierres à l’argent, ces matériaux deviennent bague et cette bague devient « QUELQUE PART DANS LA VILLE ». Ces liens sont-il autres que ceux visibles? Cette ville existe-t-elle? Quel lien y-a-t-il derrière ces fenêtres et ces bulles ?

Liée la luminosité des pierres à des métaux forgés, le Rouge devient-il passion, le Jaune sagesse, le Gris tristesse, le Bourgogne prudence, le Rose tendresse, le Vert nature, le Bleu généreux, le Violet douceur, l’Orange beauté, l’Argent intuition et l’Or dignité ? Ces liens sont-ils possibles ?

Porter « QUELQUE PART DANS LA VILLE » ou simplement la regarder et nous voila lié à l’objet!!!  Ce lien serait-il émotionnel ou simplement physique ?

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To bind gold and the stones to the sterling silver, these materials become ring and this ring becomes “SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY”. Are these bonds other than those visible? Does this city exist?  Which bond is behind these windows and these bubbles?

Bound the luminosity of the stones to forged metals, does the Red become passion, the Yellow wisdom, the Gray sadness, the Burgundy prudence, the Pink tenderness, the Green nature, the Blue generous, the Purple gentleness, the Orange beauty, The Silver intuition and the Gold dignity? Are these bonds possible?

To wear “SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY” or simply to look at it and here us related to the object!!! These bond would it be emotional or simply physical?

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Jesper Jensen

High River, AB

Best in Show

“Schooling: A Bond by Design”: ring

Titanium and 18k yellow gold, 8 heat-treated diamonds

$3240.00

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Alexis Kostuk

Toronto, ON

“Web Necklace”

Sterling silver, resin, ball chain (sterling silver, stainless steel), star sapphire, moonstone

$1230.00

My initial inspiration for “Bond” was an image of a spider web. The different types of silk a spider uses and the way it attaches different sections of the web for different purposes fascinate me. The various types of silk are used to form the structure and capture elements of the web.

Through my design exploration I paid close attention to the way in which I would bond all the different elements of the piece together. I wanted to be able to incorporate gems set in sterling silver and various ball chains but had to overcome a few obstacles to be able to connect the pieces together. I was unable to solder the stainless steel ball chain to the sterling silver so the driving force behind the fabrication was how to bond these parts together. Using resin I was able to link the segments to each other to create the necklace.

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Charles Lewton-Brain

Calgary, AB

“Storm frame”: brooch

Copper, 14 k gold, electroformed copper, electroformed 24 k gold, enamel, stainless steel.

$1400.00

This concerns the bonds of structure, dissolving in the storm. And new bonds of combining materials, the fusing of 14k gold into copper, the firing of enamel and then the enclosing and growing of metal to combine all into a whole.  The work belongs to the cage series, which uses the grid as a metaphor for the structures that humans create in culture and apply to nature. I consider this work a kind of ‘drawing’, tempered by the system constraints, stainless wire, its nature, winding, interwoven, then literally growing the metal onto the structure, a coral-like accretion, a play of pattern and chaos, natures footprints incorporated into the flow of the design.

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Charles Lewton-Brain

Calgary, AB

“Woven”: bracelet

Copper, electroformed copper, electroformed 24 k gold.

$950.00

Interwoven, inter-meshed, this is about bond, as textile, residue of passing, like worm castings on a silted beach. A view of our culture and reality as woven grid, cloth, and the thread that runs through culture. Relates to ongoing series of works based on ‘cage’, armature, geometric pieces coming off the body. I’ve always worked with the grid as a metaphor for the structures that humans create in culture and apply to nature.  Process too is very important to me. I consider this work a kind of ‘drawing’, tempered by the system constraints, stainless wire, its nature, winding, interwoven, then literally growing the metal onto the structure, like coral accretion, a play of pattern and chaos, natures footprints incorporated into the flow of the design.

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Elizabete Ludviks

Toronto, ON

“Five Fold”:  Sterling silver, 14k gold, amethyst, moonstone, diamonds, nickel silver, found non-precious stone.

$1800.00 for set

Bond: Thread holding together two parts of a tear. The needle. The pin. The binding force. Bond. There is simplicity and intrinsic strength in the meaning of this word.

My bond is five fold.

A simple needle. A common object. A binding force. I’m bound to my past trough stories, and experiences. My grandmother was a seamstress. She taught me to sew when I was five years old. She taught me to look at the world through the eye of a needle.

Memory is a bond between the past and the present. A history. I’m bound to my culture, the history of my people, my past, through every day objects. A bird. A pin. It’s an adornment as well as a practical object that is strongly influenced by the “bird” symbolism in the history of the ornament of the ancient Balts.

When a dove cries, a soul is carried to heaven. The nightingale sings – the souls that have departed this life speak to us. Birds carry very strong symbolic meanings in many different cultures but I’m bound by the image of a bird as the carrier of the soul of a loved one.

Bird – a representation of the past, a history. It leaves an imprint on me. It binds me to a past yet makes me who I am. It is my imprint. What imprint will I leave on this earth, this place, this time? An object made of reclaimed and found materials is my binding force between my past as well as the future.

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” Said Martin Luther. This pin is my tree. A tree for the birds, the bonds that tie me, the bonds that make me and the bonds that break me.

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Petra Luz

Montreal, QC
”Finger Ties”: ring

18k yellow gold, smokey quartz, industrial diamonds

$1750.00
Two rings in 18kt gold are joined together and become one double finger ring. Middle finger and ring finger are bonded together. The industrial diamonds set in one bezel create a bridge across the ring finger. Between them and the smoky quartz exists a small gap, not big enough for the middle finger to escape.

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Petra Luz

Montreal, QC

“Magic Square”: ring

Sterling silver oxidized, 18k yellow gold

$1180.00

The inspiration for this ring comes from 3D puzzles like “The Wooden Cube” or “The Magic Cross” where parts fit exactly into each other. The last piece slides in and holds the whole construction together.

The ring “Magic Square”, sterling silver and 18k gold is a simplified version of this concept. Should the black square be taken out, the “bond” holding the ring together would be broken, but for wear ability of the ring the “parts” have been soldered.

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Angela Marzinotto

Montreal, QC

“Being”: bracelet

Sterling silver with etching

$300.00

Being: all that is real & nothing that is unreal is contained in the domain known as ” being “. In Plato’s theory, it is a perfect & unchanging world of forms (ideal essences), after which the changing things of this world’s appearances are patterned.

I believe the strongest bond possible is the one that human beings create…

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Melissa Pedersen

Calgary, AB

Best Integration of Theme and Execution

“Sprout Chain”: Necklace

Argentium sterling silver

$575.00

It is fascinating how our culture is so removed and disconnected from food production today. One hardly knows how different foods are grown, or even what they look like before they are processed into easy to prepare meal packages.

My “sprout chain” is a study of change, in which I measured and recorded the development of carrots planted from seeds. The opportunity of really studying and documenting the process of growth not only enlightened my view of food production, it gave me a broader understanding of how delicate and beautiful our natural world is. It is humbling to witness the subtle transformation in a small sprout, and to realize we have an important and sometimes invisible bond to the earth, one not to be taken lightly or for granted, as our very existence relies on it.

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Andy Pomorski

Picton, ON

Good Use of Reclaimed Materials

“Cava Kara”: bracelet

Pattern welded steel timing chain, acid etched

$375.00

Made from a Chevrolet Cavalier timing chain, this piece has been pattern-welded and forged into a traditional style Kara bracelet. This Kara represents the transformation of a once mechanically bonded object to a now fused, chemically bonded one. The Kara is also one of the five symbols of faith (Kakkars) in Sikhism. It is a symbol of bondage and devotion to a Sikh’s God.

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Brenda Roy

Alliston, ON

Best in Technical Achievement

“Cuff”: bracelet

Oxidized sterling silver, granite, orange sapphire (heat-treated)

$700.00

BOND: Bond…. bondage…. manacles…. cuffs

Sexual games or symbols of slavery?

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Catherine Sheedy

Lévis, QC

“Communication”:  brooch

Sterling silver, catheter, magnets

$350.00

Communication

Le matériau est à tout moment l’élément déclencheur de mes créations. Pour faire cette parure, sous la thématique « lien », j’ai choisi de travailler avec du matériel médical. En manipulant cette matière, j’ai pris conscience des multiples références qu’elle peut évoquer. Dans cet ordre d’idée, l’œuvre COMMUNICATION est issue d’une réflexion sur le corps comme machine et l’individu comme être de relation. À l’image d’un système de connexion téléphonique ou informatique, les tuyaux, reliés à l’ornement par des aimants, peuvent être débranchés par l’utilisateur ou par une tierce personne. Cette possible interaction amène au bijou un caractère à la fois ludique et dramatique. D’abord amusante, la manipulation s’apparente à un jeu. Cependant, en contextualisant l’objet, une analogie émerge entre notre corps constitué de canaux vitaux et l’éventualité qu’il soit un jour assujetti à ce type d’appareillage médical… Relationnelle, cette œuvre provoque un dialogue entre l’auteur, le possesseur et l’observateur.

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The materials I use are the elements that spark the ideas for my creations.  To create this piece using the theme BOND as a “link”, I chose to work with medical materials.  While handling these products, I became aware of the multiple references that it can evoke. This is how the piece “COMMUNICATION” is descending from a reflection of the body as a machine and the individual wearing it and its relation to it.

Just like, as we can imagine, a system of telephone connection or data processing; the pipes linked up to the piece by magnets can be disconnected by the user or by a third person.  This possible interaction brings to the jewel a character, which is both playful and dramatic. Being funny at first, the manipulation resembles a game.  Nevertheless, in contextualizing the object, an analogy emerges between our body made of vital canals and the eventuality that one day it would be in need of this type of medical… Relational, this work provokes a dialog between the author, the possessor and the observer.

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Catherine Sheedy

Lévis, QC

Honourable Mention

Sterling silver, electrical transmission, PVC wire

$850.00

Connexion

En tant que joaillière, je m’intéresse à l’ambiguïté qui émerge d’un bijou fait main ayant les caractéristiques d’un produit manufacturé. Créer des liens entre des pièces de métal transformées manuellement et des composants industriels m’amène à associer des éléments de nature différente dans l’intention de générer une unité formelle qui se rapproche d’un objet usiné. En concevant le collier CONNEXION, j’ai voulu assembler des matériaux utilisés comme mode de transmission (fil électrique) et des feuilles d’argent travaillées de façon à laisser des empreintes du processus de fabrication sur la matière. Pour ce faire, je me suis approprié une technique traditionnelle, le martelage (méthode inspirée du livre « Foldforming » de Charles Lewton-Brain et expérimentée lors d’un atelier avec la coutelière d’art Chantal Gilbert). CONNEXION, c’est l’illustration de la distinction entre une relation humaine directe et une communication filtrée par un réseau de liaisons multidirectionnelles qui change notre rapport à l’autre.

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Connection

As a jeweler, I am very interested in the ambiguity that emerges from a handmade piece that has the characteristic of manufactured jewellery. Creating links between manually transformed pieces of metal and industrial components gave me the desire to associate elements of different origin with the intention of generating a unity in the piece that is close to a machined object. By creating the necklace “CONNECTION”, I wanted to assemble materials usually used for transmission (electrical wire) as well as manually worked silver sheets in order to, leave hand prints from the fabrication process into the media. To do this I used a traditional technique of hammering (inspired by the book “Fold Forming” by Charles Lewton-Brain and the experience gained from a workshop held by Canadian metal artist Chantal Gilbert).

“CONNECTION” is illustrated by the distinction between a direct human relationship and the communication that is filtered by multidirectional network links that changes our human relationship.

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Annette Van Leeuwen

Toronto, ON

Honourable Mention

Rings: Sterling silver & copper, marriage of metals with 14k yellow gold. Scissors: nickel silver and wood.

$595.00

Wedding bands are society’s symbol of the bond of marriage between two people. I have designed many wedding bands using the intertwining or marriage of two metals to symbolize the union of two individuals. With this pair of wedding bands, I explore the implications of that bond, beyond what I am normally aware of. Does my symbol end up feeling like a trap or handcuffs? Or, does it keep and strengthen the links of the marriage bond?

What happens when couples want to break the bond of marriage? Do they return the rings and hold the jeweller accountable? Do they each pull in different directions until the links break? Do they hold a bond breaking ceremony?

In this case, I offer scissors, along with the rings, as a way for the couple to symbolically sever the bond of marriage, should they need to.

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Rosalyn Woo

Toronto, ON

Honourable Mention

“The Collar and The Leash”: bracelet and ring

Sterling silver, pearls

$700.00

It is my intention to create a memorial piece for animals, especially pets. Most people with their pets are bond to the loving relationship as friend or family. Even after the death of the animal, the relationship continues to bond with one’s memories. Since most pet animals live relatively short lives, pet owners inevitably experience the deaths of their beloved animal friends. The heart of my piece is about mourning the absence of beloved pets for those who now live without their companionship and depicting its bond to memories, by adapting the symbol of forget-me-not from the mourning culture of Victorian period. As the remnant objects reflect the passing of one’s pet, the wearer of the piece, with a fastened grasp of its leash, rediscovers her bond to the fond memory of her now gone pet.

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Rosalyn Woo

Toronto, ON

“The Last Present”: brooch

Sterling silver, polyester resin, dyed oak

$980.00

It is my intention to create a memorial piece for animals, especially pets. Most people with their pets are bond to the loving relationship as friend or family. Even after the death of the animal, the relationship continues to bond with one’s memories. Since most pet animals live relatively short lives, pet owners inevitably experience the deaths of their beloved animal friends. The heart of my piece is about mourning the absence of beloved pets for those who now live without their companionship and depicting its bond to memories, by adapting the symbol of forget-me-not from the mourning culture of Victorian period.