Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts 2015
Paul McClure, jewellery artist (Saidye Bronfman Award)
His exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada opens Thursday, April 9, 6pm. His series, Pop, will be introduced at the L. A. Pai Gallery at the same time.
Click here to view work by Paul McClure
"These works are the fruits of recent explorations into computer modelling and the additive manufacturing process of 3D printing. The forms were initially conceived and hand fabricated as gem-set fine jewellery in silver and gold. I subsequently redesigned them through computer modelling and used 3D printing to recreate the forms. This process of reverse engineering and printing in new materials has allowed me to explore variation in form, colour, flexibility and finish."
Paul McClure is an outstanding jewellery artist, designer, educator, mentor, curator, writer and community-arts activator, and is one of the driving forces in Canadian fine craft today….
His jewellery is a personal and corporate commentary about the body – as physical site and a topic. The intersection of art and science (biology, pathology and genetics) is of particular interest. … His pieces convey ideas about our relationship with our bodies, gender subversion, and social mores surrounding disease and death.
A sublime metalsmith… he is dedicated to concept research and experimentation in order to expand the boundaries of his own practice and contemporary jewellery in Canada.
– Melanie Egan (nominator), Head, Craft & Design, Harbourfront Centre
