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The anvil anchors his studio. Rows of hammers and tools along one long wall communicate with the storage of rolling stock on another. Hung from the ceiling, a forged iron spike pierces a fluted-edge home of newspaper. That is a Joyce sculpture, exploring the confluence of the long-lived and the temporal. Two Piranesi prints of Roman ruins appear to have taken on the aura of the studio-ash and patina being by-products both of the particular and the universal realm of ideas Joyce mines at the anvil....
(2004) Complete Story
The jewelry of Lilly Fitzgerald is washed in serenity. There is a soothing balance, peacefulness, and grace to her timeless one-of-a-kind creations. Fitzgerald strives to select materials that demonstrate extraordinary character: all have spirit, an innate quality of life that, in her opinion, requires only an attractive frame to complete the composition. However, before this union can occur Fitzgerald, a self-taught metalsmith, must occasionally struggle with technical design problems that do not come as easily as does her ability to discover aesthetically pleasing materials. Nonetheless, she pushes her talents and resources, yielding creations worthy of a master goldsmith.... (2002) Complete Story
Superb mographs about three contemporary metalsmiths have recently become available: Ah Xian -- a Chinese sculptor who uses time-honored practices from the land of his birth, such as pierced and/or painted and glazed porcelain, carved lacquer, jade inlay and, especially, cloisonne enamel, to create exquisite, life-size human figures; Michael Rowe -- a British modernist whose deconstructed silver and patinated brass tabletop objects have set the standard for avant-garde holloware around the world; and Tone Vigeland, the legendary Norwegian jeweler, who combines tiny, identical units of hammered silver or steel, evocative of Vikin mail and Nordic landscapes, to make both wearable pieces and large-scale sculpture.... (2005) Complete Story
Some 20 years ago, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London sponsored "Towards a New Iron Age, "aninternational exhibition of contemporary wrought ironwork. The thesis of the exhibit was that while ornamental ironwork "had remained in the grip of the historical pastiche" for much of the twentieth century, it nonetheless was a discipline that offered enormous potential for modern design. The pieces shown - lighting, tools, and both interior and exterior architectural ornamentation - illustrated how this antique discipline could offer forms "appropriate to the tastes and attitudes of our own time." (2004) Complete Story
For nearly 30 years, Ambery-Smith has been using architecture as an inspiration for her work. Her name has become synonymous with finely wrought precious metal jewelry, boxes, and condiment sets whose inspiration lies in Renaissance, Palladian, and classical architectural precedents: a pendant based on the fifteenth-century Florentine architect Brunelleschis lantern, for example, or the Temple of Jupiter brooch, an exercise in pure classicism. Her work is represented in galleries, museums, and private collections in Europe, the United States, and around the world.... (2005) Complete Story
