Five Finalists for the 2015 AJF Artist Award
Published: 29.12.2015
Internationale Handwerkmesse Munich
- Mail:
- info
artjewelryforum.org
- platina
platina.se
- Phone:
- 0049 89 5119 248
Necklace: Pathways, 2015
Steel, acrylic paint, handmade cord, thread.
54 x 14 x 10 cm
Photo by: Aric Verrastro
On model.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Art Jewelry Forum announce the five finalists for its 2016 Artist Award. The finalists will exhibit their work with Sofia Björkman, from Platina, during the international art jewelry fair Schmuck, in Munich, Germany, from February 24 through March 1, 2016.
Finalists were chosen from the largest group of Artist Award applicants to date - 151 artists representing 35 countries - and judged on originality, depth of concept, continuity of design, and quality of craftsmanship. This year's jurors were Philip Clarke of New Zealand, inaugural director of Objectspace; 2014 Artist Award winner Seulgi Kwon, from South Korea; and AJF board member and collector Susan Kempin, who is from the United States.
The unrestricted cash prize of $7500, generously funded by Susan Beech and Karen and Michael Rotenberg, will be awarded to one of the five finalists. The winner will be announced in February 2016.
The five finalists for AJF's 2016 Artist Award are: Lynn Batchelder, Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtary, Seth Papac, Aric Verrastro, and Timothy Veske-McMahon.
Finalist Credentials, Artist Statement Excerpts, and Juror Statements:
Lynn Batchelder, MFA, Metal, State University of New York at New Paltz, New York, USA, 2013
My studio practice relies on a drawing process where forms and ideas develop intuitively through the initial exploration of a line on paper. In these works industrial steel becomes transparent and delicate as cuts made with the jeweler's saw reflect the quality of a line drawn by hand ... I am constantly trying to capture small moments of contrast where control and imperfection collide.
/ Lynn Batchelder
The artist's jewelry pieces, which have a unique shape, are works with exceptional structural and sculptural beauty. They are designed to deliver strong feeling and a simple message through the natural color of the metal itself.
/ Seulgi Kwon
Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtary, MA, Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Germany, 2012
My work starts with an intuitive experimental play with found materials, which usually come from my immediate surroundings. In the process of experimenting, the materials are being thoroughly transformed; the original source cannot be identified anymore ... My jewelry pieces may appear like artifacts of a past civilization, fossils from another planet, or the ornaments of fabled beings.
/ Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtary
The concept of layering, in a variety of senses, works very well with the organic forms employed. These works convey a sense of growth, nurturing, and preciousness.
/ Philip Clarke
Seth Papac, MFA, Metals/Jewelry, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, 2009
Life in Southern California, with its unreal sunsets, light-bleached buildings, and vestiges of 70s style, brought my memory to a saturation point, forming crystals of experience ... These merged into objects with varying physical relationships to the body--at the scale of architecture, at the scale of jewelry, and in between. Utilizing the vocabulary of jewelry and architecture, space and place are explored--from the past to the present, from the personal to the cliché, from the obvious to the mysterious.
/ Seth Papac
The artist's experience in Southern California becomes the motif for his object. The work has an unrivaled force to it that creates a strong bond between the artist and the audience, and delivers a unique presence.
/ Seulgi Kwon
Aric Verrastro, MFA, Metalsmithing/Jewelry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, 2015
I have recently been displaced from living in a city, which has left an sulek-burcu-emptiness-2015 in my life. The creation of each piece has become a method to fill the void. The forms are architectural, modular, constructed from steel, becoming allegorical representations of the energy of a thriving, vibrant environment ... As jewelry, the body completes the piece as people fill and give life to architectural spaces, expressing the vitality and connection I feel toward the urban human experience.
/ Aric Verrastro
I like the contrast of materials, steel and thread, and that the thread represents people wandering through the city. One normally thinks of city colors as dark or metallic, but I love the use of color to represent the vibrancy of the city.
/ Susan Kempin
Timothy Veske-McMahon, MFA, Metalsmithing, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, 2013
We seek out and delve into mirrors for clarifying affirmation but, in truth, are met with a foreign body ... This perceived closeness of similarity and familiarity is a deception--fictitious shorthand we use in identifying within society and relationships. If the act of definition is a loss of information, is it possible to create a loss-less object?
/ Timothy Veske-McMahon
I'm always looking for work that looks like nothing I have seen before. These works offer some complex social observations from the maker but at the same time are visually arresting, surprising, and very wearable. This is a rare achievement.
/ Philip Clarke
The unrestricted cash prize of $7500, generously funded by Susan Beech and Karen and Michael Rotenberg, will be awarded to one of the five finalists. The winner will be announced in February 2016.
The five finalists for AJF's 2016 Artist Award are: Lynn Batchelder, Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtary, Seth Papac, Aric Verrastro, and Timothy Veske-McMahon.
Finalist Credentials, Artist Statement Excerpts, and Juror Statements:
Lynn Batchelder, MFA, Metal, State University of New York at New Paltz, New York, USA, 2013
My studio practice relies on a drawing process where forms and ideas develop intuitively through the initial exploration of a line on paper. In these works industrial steel becomes transparent and delicate as cuts made with the jeweler's saw reflect the quality of a line drawn by hand ... I am constantly trying to capture small moments of contrast where control and imperfection collide.
/ Lynn Batchelder
The artist's jewelry pieces, which have a unique shape, are works with exceptional structural and sculptural beauty. They are designed to deliver strong feeling and a simple message through the natural color of the metal itself.
/ Seulgi Kwon
Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtary, MA, Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Germany, 2012
My work starts with an intuitive experimental play with found materials, which usually come from my immediate surroundings. In the process of experimenting, the materials are being thoroughly transformed; the original source cannot be identified anymore ... My jewelry pieces may appear like artifacts of a past civilization, fossils from another planet, or the ornaments of fabled beings.
/ Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtary
The concept of layering, in a variety of senses, works very well with the organic forms employed. These works convey a sense of growth, nurturing, and preciousness.
/ Philip Clarke
Seth Papac, MFA, Metals/Jewelry, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, 2009
Life in Southern California, with its unreal sunsets, light-bleached buildings, and vestiges of 70s style, brought my memory to a saturation point, forming crystals of experience ... These merged into objects with varying physical relationships to the body--at the scale of architecture, at the scale of jewelry, and in between. Utilizing the vocabulary of jewelry and architecture, space and place are explored--from the past to the present, from the personal to the cliché, from the obvious to the mysterious.
/ Seth Papac
The artist's experience in Southern California becomes the motif for his object. The work has an unrivaled force to it that creates a strong bond between the artist and the audience, and delivers a unique presence.
/ Seulgi Kwon
Aric Verrastro, MFA, Metalsmithing/Jewelry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, 2015
I have recently been displaced from living in a city, which has left an sulek-burcu-emptiness-2015 in my life. The creation of each piece has become a method to fill the void. The forms are architectural, modular, constructed from steel, becoming allegorical representations of the energy of a thriving, vibrant environment ... As jewelry, the body completes the piece as people fill and give life to architectural spaces, expressing the vitality and connection I feel toward the urban human experience.
/ Aric Verrastro
I like the contrast of materials, steel and thread, and that the thread represents people wandering through the city. One normally thinks of city colors as dark or metallic, but I love the use of color to represent the vibrancy of the city.
/ Susan Kempin
Timothy Veske-McMahon, MFA, Metalsmithing, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, 2013
We seek out and delve into mirrors for clarifying affirmation but, in truth, are met with a foreign body ... This perceived closeness of similarity and familiarity is a deception--fictitious shorthand we use in identifying within society and relationships. If the act of definition is a loss of information, is it possible to create a loss-less object?
/ Timothy Veske-McMahon
I'm always looking for work that looks like nothing I have seen before. These works offer some complex social observations from the maker but at the same time are visually arresting, surprising, and very wearable. This is a rare achievement.
/ Philip Clarke
Brooch: Tunnel, 2015
Oxidized silver.
12.7 x 5 x 5 cm
Photo by: Lynn Batchelder
Awarded at: AJF Young Artist Award 2015
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Nugget, 2015
Silver, paint.
3.2 x 6.4 x 5.3 cm
Photo by: Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtray
On model.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Necklace: Cali Condensation, 2015
18 kt gold, brass, aluminum, rayon.
30 x 10 x 10 cm
Photo by: Seth Papac
On body
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Borve VI, 2015
Plastic, aluminum.
8.5 x 12.5 x 1 cm
Photo by: Timothy Veske-McMahon
On model.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Internationale Handwerkmesse Munich
- Mail:
- info
artjewelryforum.org
- platina
platina.se
- Phone:
- 0049 89 5119 248
-
Hannah Oatman. Winner of the Klimt02 JPlus Emerging Talent Award 2020
07Dec2020
klimt02
Barcelona, Spain -
Inbar Avneri. Winner of the Klimt02 JPlus Audience Award 2020
07Dec2020
Klimt02
Barcelona, Spain -
The Winner of Arte y Joya Award 2020
08Oct2020
Arte y Joya
Ripollet, Spain -
Award Winners at JOYA Barcelona Art Jewellery & Objects Fair 2020
29Sep2020
Artesania Catalunya (CCAM)
Barcelona, Spain -
Friedrich Becker Prize 2020 Winner
23Jun2020
GfG
Hanau, Germany -
Japan Jewellery Competition 2020 Winners
17Jun2020
Japan Jewellery Designers Association
Tokyo, Japan -
BKV Prize 2020 Winners
30Apr2020
Bayrischer Kunstgewerbeverein
Munich, Germany -
Talente Competition 2020 Winners
14Mar2020
Internationale Handwerkmesse Munich
Munich, Germany -
Herbert Hofmann Prize 2020
13Mar2020
Internationale Handwerkmesse Munich
Munich, Germany -
Winners of the Preziosa Young Design Competition 2020
15Jan2020
Le Arti Orafe
Florence, Italy -
Esther Heite graduate from the Hochschule Düsseldorf Winner of the Klimt02 JPlus Emerging Talent Award 2019
03Dec2019
klimt02
Barcelona, Spain -
Rachael Colley awarded with the Grand Prix at 2019 ITAMI International Craft Exhibition
16Nov2019
The Museum of Arts & Crafts ITAMI
Itami, Japan -
Silver Triennial, 19th International Competition Award Giving
27Oct2019
GfG
Hanau, Germany -
Enjoia't Awards 2019 Winners
12Oct2019
A-FAD
Barcelona, Spain -
LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2019 Winner
26Jun2019
Sogetsu Kaikan
Tokyo, Japan