Cranbrook Academy of Art. Degree Show 2017

Artist list

Emily Culver, Monica Nickles

There are two graduating metalsmithing candidates working within the field of contemporary jewelry. The intimacy of progressing with a small group of individuals is evidenced by the subject matter that these artists commit their time through research and making. Emily Culver locates daily and mundane objects that we, as humans, project aspects of ourselves into, and considers when these objects operate as bodies in their own right. Monica Nickles’ work deals with loss, where nature serves as an inspiration as well as a means to talk about time and scope.

Artists Statements:
Emily Culver
In exploring function as metaphor the objects I create reference the familiar, therefore informing their affect. I work to understand the influence that they possess through their communicative affordances; is it we who shape their existence or do they also dictate us? The body activates these “things” as much as they in turn reflect it - they lead and guide in more than just their discovery.
I think of all materials, surfaces and forms in relation to the body; whether it be by the way that they embody corporeal qualities or in the ways in which they speak to/call for physical engagement. I see skinness in color, texture and metaphorical function but also in longing for and responsiveness to touch. I wonder if by representing humanness, embodied within inanimate things, can one more fully and aptly experience the humanity within oneself?

What is it that we search for within “things”? Why do we project aspects of ourselves onto and into them? I ask myself if it is like looking in the mirror or looking on the hook, shelf or table.

In other words, what can a Still Life reveal; an invitation to engage, a staging for a specific event, an offering on a platter?
Or perhaps simply something about ourselves.


Monica Nickles
I believe that humanity can be stripped down to the essence of a stone, to the different formations, layers, and textures. The outer landscapes never capture the inner landscapes, or the erosion of experience we endure.

Focusing on the interactions and connections humans have with one another, the worst kind of suffering is not to desire an instance, but to desire that the current moment is different from itself. It is how each moment of interaction shapes us. Viewing these layers as markers of time, they tell us a story like scars on a human body.

I’m intrigued by the invisible forces that control human behavior. We try to make sense of those unconscious forces and therefore create narratives to convey beliefs and emotions.

By interweaving narratives and scientific imagery, I ultimately want to create objects which shift our perception of a preconceived reality.
The complexity of language defines how we comprehend, communicate, and commiserate with one another, although never enough to complete the connection between individuals.
I traveled in wide open spaces, indulged in the muse of nature, getting lost in something much larger than I am. I listened to these landscapes telling stories. I heard them merging with my stories and could connect.


Guiding teacher:
Metalsmithing Head of Department, Iris Eichenberg, graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam in 1994. She worked as an independent artist and part-time curator and co-organizer of art-related events. She began teaching jewelry in 1996 at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and has given numerous workshops at various art academies in Europe, Asia, Africa, as well as North, and South America. Eichenberg became head of the Jewelry Department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 2000, a position she held until accepting an appointment as artist-in-residence and head of the metalsmithing department at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in 2007.