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The two main choices for craft shows are specialization and balance; to either focus
strongly on an established audience or to stir the pot. Neither of these need to be
exclusive choices; treading a middle ground might be the better answer.
SmithSonian Craft Show 2011
LIZ ALPERT FAY
BRIAN BEAM
LAURA BREITMAN
GUSTAV REYES
NICARIO JIMENEZ
ANDREA HANDY
JOH RICCI
ROBYN NICHOLS
CHRIS WHEELER
LISA SORRELL
Patrick R. Benesh-Liu
ALLISON CIANCIBELLI / JEREMY NEWMAN
april 14 – 17
national Building muSeum
waShington, d.C.
T
he craft world is dealing with a generational shift that has
all the inexorability of time itself. A new crop of craft
artists, encouraged in their artistic pursuits by their peers
and the camaraderie of community offered by the Internet,
are creating a new craft movement, one that is decentralized JOHN IVERSEN
and widespread. More than that, it offers a different avenue
for young artists, who can exhibit and market their work among
themselves and their age group rather than proceeding into
the more established professional arenas. The jewelry of Mayra Orama Muñiz and Erica Millner is
Inevitably as this new movement grows, however, the best another welcome stirring of the pot. Their geometric, architectural
of these artists will want to progress. With this growing work seems like it would be made with metal, but in fact
population, the traditional craft shows face difficult choices. In utilizes a combination of precious metal and wood. Their
most cases, long-time craft artists continue to improve in bracelets have sculptural elements, such as a three-part bangle
their work; thus, carrying out a complete turnover of exhibitors that features each of the three curving arches interlocking into
loses a large pool of talent. However, there are unmistakable a single smooth piece that has a sense of rotational power.
gems among the up and coming, and the introduction of new Their geode-like necklace has a satisfying heft of shape, with each
artists helps keep the line-up fresh. The two main choices for wooden “bead,” matte charcoal black, populated by dots of
craft shows are specialization and balance; to either focus strongly silver to break up monotony. The use of wood stems from
on an established audience or to stir the pot. Neither of these their first craft fairs in Puerto Rico, where they began their
need to be exclusive choices; treading a middle ground might career. “There were many ‘rules’ about making crafts that
be the better answer. reflected the historical crafts of the island. Artisans were
In 2011, the Smithsonian Craft Show is approaching accepted to craft fairs based on their use of traditional materials.
this issue for the first time. Most craft shows have a section for We started using seeds from palm trees and vines to create
emerging artists, but in recognition of the volume of craft our jewelry. Many people were doing the same thing so we
artists out there, nearly half of this year’s one hundred twenty started using exotic woods that were readily available. We
exhibitors for the Smithsonian Craft Show are new. Most still would go to the local wood mill and select the pieces that
have five or more years of exhibiting experience. While many would otherwise be burned or discarded. The wood was so
of them are younger artists, some are those who have been unbelievably beautiful that we were inspired to use its grain,
trying to enter for years. tone and color to create sculptural jewelry.”
This certainly changes the show’s dynamic and feel. The Muñiz and Millner have been doing art fairs for years
most apparent difference is the utilization of alternative in Jayuya, Puerto Rico. Having begun their jewelry careers in
materials, and the novel approaches to the medium. Kaoru 1998, they attended roughly fifty art fairs every year in a wide
Izushi’s knitted fashion is a trailblazer for the potential of range of locales, from the Museum of Art in San Juan to “a
this new generation; sensuous, hip, with shapes and draping dusty field in Moca.” As with Kaoru Izushi, Muñiz and Millner
reminiscent of traditional East Asian cultures, all rendered show that there is a sizeable pool of artists who have plenty of
in natural fibers run through the knitting machine. Her work experience in shows yet only now have gained the opportunity
is currently unimitable, not by quality of craft nor rarity of to attend a higher venue, about which they are similarly
material, but rather its originality, clever inspiration from enthusiastic. “We are very grateful and excited,” Millner says.
traditional elements, strength of design, and functionality. For Millner and Muñiz, the Smithsonian Craft Show gave them
Though Japanese, Izushi seems to have taken influences from an excuse to experiment with their work and push the edge
Korean dress. Her jackets resemble chogori, small Korean of their artistic envelope.
coats that for women only extend to the armpits, and are tied Glass artists Jeremy Newman and Allison Ciancibelli create
across the front by a bow. luminescent sculptures that resemble colorful chimaeric
33 ORNAMENT 34.3.2011
As far as her acceptance, Izushi is overwhelmed. She is no beach stones, the rare treasures of the mundane. Taking their
stranger to craft shows: “Including small local shows, I’ve been inspiration from the local landscape of their home in North
showing more than fifteen years,” Izushi explains. However, this Central Washington, Newman and Ciancibelli’s artist statement
is the first time she has been admitted to the Smithsonian. “I am points out, “It is in these lowlands that we find our voice,
very excited about it. My dream has come true,” Izushi says. exploring the intersection of the native landscape and the
established artists who still make up half the Smithsonian’s
exhibitors, and continue to create outstanding work. John
Iversen, veteran metalsmith and exhibitor at the Smithsonian
Craft Show, is an elegant example. Iversen’s work is that sublime
convergence between aesthetic and technique. His leaf motifs,
an iconic facet of his portfolio, stand out in white silver as if
they were petrified. Veins and filaments are gloriously
rendered. And Iversen has continued to explore new directions
in his work.
Similarly, the jewelry of Ken Loeber and Dona Look shows
MICHAEL BROLLY the maturation that requires significant time and effort to
achieve. Loeber and Look’s work has focused on textural
qualities, but more recently Ken Loeber has begun a series
influence of man in transforming that landscape.” The frosted playing with the concept of shadow, foreground and background.
glass sculptures, often mounted on rusted metal planks or Coral branches, accentuated by a gold leaf or a single pearl,
pieces of wood, certainly evoke that poignant sensation of backed with a dark, sterling silver silhouette, become a poignant
woodpost fences, rusty barbed wire, and the hills and fields three-dimensional structure.
of Washington. “We have been working with blown glass for Loeber and Look’s admission to the Smithsonian again
fourteen years and showing it nationally for the past ten years,” this year is well deserved. Dona Look received a United States
Newman says. “As young emerging artists we are excited to be Artist Fellowship grant in 2010 which was very helpful in
able to show our work to such a sophisticated clientele.” giving a creative boost to the artists. Look explains, “It encouraged
Chandra Stubbs is a mixed-media artist who is also joining both me and Ken to focus on doing our best work and
the Smithsonian show for the first time, although she has gave us the opportunity to experiment on new ideas with less
presented her work in other craft shows as many other new financial stress.”
arrivals have. Stubbs’s work is built upon her ceramics Rod Creegan and Ignatius Givens are veteran milliners
training, but takes a completely different direction due to her whose braided fiber hats play significantly with shape. Truly
interest in fabric. Merino wool felt is the medium for a bold sculptural pieces, the stiff nature of fiber weaving with straw
palette of colors. Making the ceramic-enshrined equivalent of or raffia allows very complicated forms to be produced. While
a wall hanging, the pieces Stubbs makes are bright and vibrant. the iconic farmer’s straw hat may be made from the same
Her work is like an orderly Jackson Pollock, where the paint material, Creegan and Givens illustrate just how far the boundaries
splashes are instead layers of dyed felt, set into conscribed can be pushed: a mountain of leaves surmounted by a small
ceramic circles rather than blotting themselves across a canvas. beehive becomes a cone-like cap, while something like a multi-
For Stubbs, Smithsonian has been a goal post to reach for tiered fedora with thick braiding experiments with a standard
years. “Smithsonian Craft Show, it kind of says it all. I’m not shape to produce something unusual and stylish. That most of
going to lie, I was ecstatic that I got in and have been trying their work exists in a mono-colored oeuvre of straw-yellow
to reach this point in showing my art since day one,” Stubbs presents a type of incongruity—that of innovative form paired
explains. “I have applied for the past five years, and even when with a traditional folk medium.
I saw the acceptance letter I still could not believe it. There This is the simple truth which not only Iversen, Creegan,
comes a certain validation with being selected to present Givens, Loeber and Look, but many other established artists
work in such a prestigious show. And with this validation comes prove: that there is no expiration date on good craft. This
a new sense of spirit and creativity.” demonstrates the value and necessity of finding ways to
Stubbs has a particularly cogent perspective on the multi- encourage the presence of both groups, the established and
disciplinary craft that is appearing more and more at craft shows the emerging. Going too far in one direction or another, at the
like the Smithsonian. “I have been doing shows since 2001, but very least, reduces the diversity of the craft work.
feel I have really caught my stride the past three years after I In a description of their work, Newman and Ciancibelli
left behind my label as a ceramic artist and have embraced the write, “Blackbirds flocking to a lone cottonwood tree, a full
world of mixed-media. I have never liked labels, and as far September moon signaling the harvest, straw bales left to rot
34 ORNAMENT 34.3.2011
as the future of cross-disciplines in the world of craft I think we in a farmer’s field, an abandoned fence line of weathered posts.
are going to see a lot more. Artists and craftsmen I talk with These simple, abstract images present to the viewer a single
are doing the same, and I think it is a natural progression.” moment in time, but a more elaborate storyline lies in the
While these new arrivals are stimulating for their own sake, periphery. The narrative tells of the cycles and the seasons
it is something that should be considered in addition to those that inform and direct our daily lives.” Newman and Ciancibelli’s
KATE BISHOP
GINA PANNORFI
SELMA KARACA
JOYCE ROESSLER
EMANUELA AURELI
KATHLEEN NOWAK TUCCI
KAORU IZUSHI
GAIL CROSMAN MOORE
statement about their art is a good metaphor for the current alike, a show like the Smithsonian represents a major and vital
craft world at large. The seasons are changing; unlike the source of income. The livelihood of a craft artist is difficult
relatively small pool of dedicated craftspeople who have made whether they are just starting out or have been in the field for
up the community for decades, the near future will see an decades, and the influx of new artists into Smithsonian
explosion in population. necessarily displaces many of these incredible artists.
The Smithsonian Women’s Committee has made a big step The likeliest answer is the happy medium; a place to bring
this year in trying to address these concerns. How future in new artists into the circuit, while slowly accruing its own
shows will go is an interesting question; will half of the show stable of excellent artisans from those who have and continue
continue to be first-time exhibitors? What will happen to to pass through. Even as American art education receives
those who exhibited this year? Who, out of the quite extensive severe cutbacks, there are legions of young artists out there; it
pool of skilled craft artisans, will be picked for that other half? is clear that the pool of talented craftspeople in the near future
The Smithsonian’s decisions will determine the future nature will be larger than it is today. One way or another, these artists
35 ORNAMENT 34.3.2011
of the show. This depends on what the goal will be. Is it now will need a door into the show circuit, and the craft shows will
a showcase for new talent? need this talent to remain connected to a new generation of
While this may seem to be a simple answer, it is important craft buyers. Perhaps the new incarnation of the Smithsonian
to understand that for emerging and established craft artists will serve as this vital gateway.
Provided courtesy of www.ornamentmagazine.com
