Artist Statement
Link: Source, Focus, Mass
When melted, metal wire naturally balls up into itself which creates opportunities for connection. Within the framework of jewelry and specifically the link of a chain, I explore how scale affects each part of the chain individually and as an interconnected whole. This body of work is a collection of objects exploring the same chain link at multiple scales. Source is a network of hundreds of chain links methodically made from brass wire and tubing that sprawls along the wall. This piece emphasizes the whole as opposed to the individual link. Focus uses the same chain link design and explores its anatomy by changing the scale and fabrication process. By enlarging each aspect by a 75% ratio, this 15 link chain reflects the function, form, and design of the source link. With fabricated copper tubing and spheres, as well as brass connective elements, each connecting point becomes more important than the whole. Mass is an even larger scale sculpture made of welded steel rod and ball bearings, placed through hand fabricated steel tubes. Shifts in scale brings the link into focus to ground the viewer in its stability. The change in structure and fluidity that emerges when individual links are given space increases our awareness of the link being a singular within a unified whole. Singular links can appear static and observable, while fluidity is emphasized when a consistent scale is maintained. As links are assembled, they influence one another, bound together as distance grows.
