Metalsmith Magazine. Vol 44 No 3

Over the course of volume 44, we have posed many questions about materiality. Some were practical—about sourcing, process, and mastery. Some were theoretical— about scale, narrative, and authenticity. I personally favor tugging at threads to see if knots untangle; I’m less keen on answers tied in neat bows. And so, we conclude our investigation of materiality by delving into its intermingling with identity and temporality.

J Taran Diamond says it best in Fresh Off the Bench, where she asserts: “Materials perform complex identities.” Two profiles focus on artists whose work and cultural identities intertwine. For In the Studio, Mazzi Odu offers a glimpse inside the life of Jo Boateng—an up-and-coming UK jeweler whose designs speak to the artist’s Ghanaian roots. In their foray into Jewelry Thinking, Frances Fleetwood highlights the material and forms Rochelle Youk uses to explore familial lineages. And in Ask Me Anything, Juan Harnie dispels assumptions about what it means to identify as a jewelry collector.

Also in this issue, jewelry artist and data-scientist Lauren Eckert analyzes keyword searches and discusses the whiplash pace of aesthetic trends in jewelry and fashion. David Cole celebrates the duet between makers and machines, and contemplates how rapid technological advancements will shape this relationship. In contrast, the kinetic jewelry and objects featured in LOOK employ time and human interaction to invoke movement. Indeed, this issue is quietly bookended by evocations of deep time. To start, we step into an excerpt by Dutch jeweler Kalkidan Hoex from a forthcoming book of jewelry and poetry. And to close, in Crit Group Rebecca Enderby shares various jewelers’ thoughts on lab-grown diamonds—in part considering the pace at which humans synthesize what the Earth takes eons to create. In our second installment of Continuum of Indigenous Expression, RoseMary Diaz reintroduces Hopi silversmith and lapidarist Charles Loloma to the pages of Metalsmith (last seen here in 2006)—and sets the stage to later cover the artists who follow, adapt, and extend the path Loloma paved. And Charlotte von Hardenburgh’s research rescues designerturned humanitarian Fran Hosken from the all-too-common fate of women artists: obscurity.

Ana Lopez’s feature on pewter looks at this “most misunderstood metal” through the work of a range of artists, identifying how this field is one of lineages, with deep roots and far-reaching branches. One of pewter’s lineages can be found in the late master pewtersmith Fred Fenster, honored in Susie Ganch’s heartfelt remembrance of her teacher, mentor, and friend. We present these two offerings side by side: Lopez provides the scope of Fenster’s influence, while Ganch relays scale of impact—to both SNAG and far afield.

/ Adriane Dalton, Editor.


Features:
Hardwear: The Midcentury Jewelry Designs of Fran Hosken by Charlotte von Hardenburgh.
By Means of Tools: Metalsmithing and Machines by David Cole.
Pewter: A Most Misunderstood Metal by Ana Lopez.

Departments:

• Voice & Vision by Kalkidan Hoex
• Findings by Lauren Eckert
• Continuum of Indigenous Expression by RoseMary Diaz
• Fresh off the Bench by J Taran Diamond
• Ask Me Anything by Juan Harnie
• Jo Boateng by Mazzi Odu
• Of Time and Breath by Olivia Shih
• Rochelle Youk by Frances Fleetwood
• In Memoriam: Fred Fenster by Susie Ganch
• Shaking Up the Diamond Story by Rebecca Enderby