Copper Love

As part of the new body of work for the world is pearl I have set out to re-use scrap material or untouched materials that have been in my studio for a very, very long time.

One of the things I have repeatedly returned to in my practice is roll printing. One of the very early exhibitions I was invited to participate in was called paper at Gallery 156 in 2001. For this I roll printed different types of paper onto fine silver and gave it a white patina. This developed into an ongoing series of exhibition and production work called Vestiges. In 2002 I made a series of brooches this time roll printing with fine silver and silk brocade, these were for the exhibition pinned at Gallery 156, here's a picture.

Also in 2003 I participated in a workshop with Otto Kunzli called ...life in the day of for this we were required to create a diary piece. My initial idea and experiments involved roll printing my junk mail and then rolling the thin metal sheets into beads. The idea wasn't well received, although I rather liked it, and so, ten years later I have returned... the vestiges in the world is a pearl are beads made from all the mis-rolled and scrap fine silver and 24 ct gold pieces accumulated over the past twelve years along with roll printed copper scrap.

Here is a little glimpse of some of the copper work in progress.

 

I usually only get to use copper in the class room when I am teaching. It has been such a treat to use in the studio!