2010 Rings

In 2009, Lily Yung, the Toronto-based jeweller and designer, invited a dozen or so artists to participate in a wonderful, whimsical project: to each create over 100 rings, more like 144 each, to arrive at a total of 2010. The aim of this exhibition was to explore the many circuitous routes a ring might take.

From ready-mades to the ephemeral to Arte Povera, while making use of new technologies and tackling themes such as ecology and recycling, the offerings of the selected artists surprise and stimulate both the mind and the senses. In addition to the more traditional materials, plastic, porcelain, wood, resin, and paper have been put to use in unpredictable ways.

First unveiled last October at Toronto‘s "new" gallery, this exhibition now runs at Galerie Noel Guyo-marc‘h. In spring 2010, Lily Yung, curator and participating artist, proposed this exhibition to the gallery. Then, in August, she died of cancer. Now, with this exhibition, Galerie Noel Guyomarc‘h pays homage to the co-founder of the "new" gallery, a space dedicated to the contemporary fine crafts, to the editor of the magazine new views, but most of all to an artist who unceasingly innovated, investigated, and experimented. She took part in more than sixty group and individual shows and received many awards and grants. Shortly before her death, the Ontario Craft Council awarded her the John Mather Award for Lifetime Achievement. Her works can be found in many public and private collections. In 2010, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts acquired twenty of her creations.

Originally from Hong Kong, in 1975 Lily Yung received her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Alberta, and moved to Toronto where she made the leap from scientist to artist, devoting herself first to a longtime interest, printmaking. Then, in 1986, she began experimenting with jewellery design. Colourful and lively, with simple three-dimensional forms, her first pieces, which she called Plastic Work, resemble little mobiles. In the years following, Yung explored crochet and lace techniques, sparingly incorporating crystals and semi-precious stones. These collections, titled Olympian Offerings, Dreaming Pharaoh and Gossamer make reference to Greco-Roman and Egyptian mythology, as well as to Dutch and Flemish portraiture. Each of these works was always presented in specific contexts created by the artist.

The requirements of her designs drove Yung to explore in other directions. In 2003, having received a grant from the Artists-in-Residence for Research program of the Canada Council for the Arts, she experimented with the sculptural potential of new industrial mate-rials while working on implementing and developing manufacturing technologies, such as virtual and rapid prototyping. She used these new techniques (SLS, laser cut, SLA, ZCorp…) to create jewellery in silicone, felt, resin powder, nylon and glass… What surprises is the interaction of organic and geometric forms, reminding us of the artist‘s early interest in microbiology.

One cannot help but be impressed by the constant pursuit of innovation, both aesthetic and formal, in Yung‘s work. In 2002, she took part in Materials and Colour, a travelling exhibition organized by Galerie Noel Guyomarc‘h in Canada and the US, and in 2006, showed her work at the gallery in a solo show titled New Explorations. The gallery has lost an important artist, and wishes to pay tribute to her with this new exhibition.