Lynn Batchelder: Emerging Artist Award Winner 2016

Artist list

Lynn Batchelder

AJF's Artist Award acknowledges promise, innovation, and individuality, advancing the careers of rising artists. The competition was open to makers of wearable art age 35 and under and not currently enrolled in a professional training program. Judging was based on originality, depth of concept, continuity of design, and quality of craftsmanship. This year's jurors were Philip Clarke(New Zealand), inaugural director of Objectspace; 2014 Artist Award winner Seulgi Kwon South Korea); and AJF board member and collector Susan Kempin(United States).

Batchelder's studio practice relies on a drawing process where forms and ideas develop intuitively through the initial exploration of a line on paper. Industrial steel becomes transparent and delicate as cuts made with the jeweler's saw reflect the quality of a line drawn by hand. Batchelder strives to capture small moments of contrast where control and imperfection collide.
 
Impressed by Batchelder's work, Philip Clarke described it as "[a]ppearing almost mechanically made at a distant glance ... the character of the human hand and frailty is evident. I found that the maker was able to explore a range of ideas within the quite formal framework that they had created." Seulgi Kwon reflected on the pieces having "exceptional structural and sculptural beauty. They are designed to deliver strong feeling and a simple message through the natural color of metal itself." Susan Kempin added, "I love the clean lines, the simplicity and yet the complexity of the pieces ... to me there is only perfection here."
 
Batchelder earned a master's of fine arts in metal from State University of New York at New Paltz, New York, USA, in 2013.
An interview with the artist and full caption information can be found here.