TACTILE CHRONICLES: The 2022 Silver Society of Canada NSCAD Student Competition of Fine Metal Sculpture

Title: Erika’s Puzzle-Pot

Materials: Silver, liver of sulfur, driftwood

Techniques: Fabrication, hydraulic forming, anticlastic forming

Dimensions: 15 x 15 x 9 cm

Date: October 2020

Artwork Statement: Erika’s Puzzle-Pot is a collection of memories reiterated in silver to form a heartfelt, sculptural teapot. Dedicated to my mother, this piece features the puzzle pieces she made during her time in the NSCAD jewellery department, a cuttlefish casting of the key from my first house and driftwood found on one of the many hikes we went on together. Growing up my mother always acted as a primary source of inspiration, constantly pushing and supporting me as I continued on a creative path. As a piece, this teapot embodies our familial bond as well as the comradery and closeness we experienced through numerous creative discussions and many years of working side by side in our respective fields.

Artist Statement: Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Hannah Proctor is a recent graduate of the NSCAD UniversityJewellery Design and Metalsmithing program. Having always been intrigued and influenced by the arts, she went into the advanced IB art program at Charles P Allen High School from 2015 to 2017, leading to her first self-curated exhibition. Immediately after high school, she continued to NSCAD, initially taking a split sculpture and intermediate degree which still influences her work to this day. Most recently, her work has been featured in the 2022 NSCAD Graduation Exhibition Anthology: a collection in bloom, NSCAD’s senior studio exhibition Assemblage in 2021, as well as the Ethical Metalsmith show So Fresh + So Clean. Coupled with her sculptural interests, Hannah is inspired and influenced by the natural world and the intricacies within it. This fascination works in tandem with cold materiality, inspired greatly by machinery of past and present. She creates sculptural work that walks the line between mechanical and natural.

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Title: Coleoptera

Materials: Sterling silver, labradorite

Dimensions: 13 x 11 x 27 cm

Date: April 2022

Artwork Statement: This teapot was created as a celebration of the physical process of traditional silversmithing techniques, an embodiment of William Morris’ philosophy of joy in labour. I was inspired mostly by a desire to explore my favourite hollowware techniques—hand raising, spiculums (hollow tube forms), and chasing and repoussé—in a precious material. By engaging in these laborious traditional processes which are not necessarily immediately evident in the finished piece, this work also poses questions about seen and unseen labour, and the value of hidden things.

The body of this teapot was raised entirely by hand. Over the course of many months, I slowly hammered a flat sheet of silver into shape, working intuitively with the material without a concrete final form in mind. I allowed the silver to grow into the space between what it wanted to be and what I wanted it to be. The handles and spouts were also fabricated by hand from silver sheet, hammered into shape and then bent gently by hand into sumptuous curves—again a negotiation between my own desires and the physical limits of the material.

Over the past year, I fell in love with chasing and repoussé, and in the spirit of finding joy in hidden things, decided to embellish the bottom of the teapot with a chasing and repoussé scarab beetle. The “back” side is visible on the bottom of the teapot, but the full beauty and detail of this intricate work can only be accessed by peering within the vessel itself. I was often asked: “Why put so much work into something that no one will see properly?” The answer is really the only statement I believe this piece needs: I did it because the work brought me immense joy. To see metal move in such a way under the power of your hands is true magic. Silversmithing is magic. This teapot is magic. Life can be magic if you look out for it. Take a moment to lie in the grass and look real up-close at bugs sometimes. It’s important.

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Title: Fleurs du mal

Materials: Copper

Dimensions: 24 x 17 x 15 cm

Date: February 2020

Artwork Statement: This vase was inspired by research into the concept of the abject—the feeling when one is simultaneously repulsed by, and yet also attracted to something. There are many things, especially in nature, that occupy this strange space between the disgusting and the tantalizing. How interesting it is that a similar formal element can be beauteous (a delicate tendril of hair, the creeping vines of a flower) or repellant (a sea creature’s tentacles, the horrible tongue of a science fiction monster). I am interested in these strange spaces in our psyche where seemingly oppositional emotions enmesh. In creating this piece I played with this idea of similarity and difference, attraction and repulsion, taking advantage of the elastic possibilities of delicate copper tubing to create forms evocative of both. My visual inspirations came from Art Nouveau designs, in particular the signature ‘whiplash’ curves of Victor Horta, and also from the tentacled eldritch creatures of H.P. Lovecraft such as Cthulhu. The resulting form is both foreboding and beautiful, conjuring images of delicate flowers and terrible creatures of the deep. The vase is created from a collection of seven hand-formed and bent spiculums, attached to a hydraulic pressed base.

Artist Statement: As a craftsperson, I am interested in the power of craft in supporting our spiritual wellbeing; craft can be fundamental in our daily routines, and craftsmanship makes life feel beautiful. Jewellery in particular is intimately engaged with our inner selves, as it occupies a unique intersection between ritual items and everyday objects. My work explores the spiritual power of jewellery, and how it can bring a sense of magic and ritual into our lives. Conceptually, my work takes shape around research into philosophy, psychoanalysis, art history, and theology. An affinity for history shapes my work physically as well, with a focus on traditional materials and techniques as a means of energetic connection to a long lineage of ancient jewellery production. In the tradition of the Symbolists, I believe that art should give you something that feels powerfully and intimately connected to the mysterious undercurrents of life. I explore this space with jewellery, leveraging its symbolic weight in our lives to engage a deeper emotional sensation. Precious metals and gemstones have captured the human imagination for thousands of years, and thus figure prominently in my pieces. My work argues that spiritual and material joy can be one and the same.

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Title: Lily Flower Moris

Materials: Copper, green patina

Dimensions: 6 x 12 x 12 cm

Date: February 2020

Artwork Statement: These lovely lily flowers are relevant to my Art History experience with my craft mentor Sandra Alfoldy. The candle holder with anticlastic and synclastic forming techniques and the green patina effect is in the traditional Victorian Memento Mori style. This piece is my way to memorialize her while recognizing and appreciating her help in my academic experience.

Artist Bio: Halifax-based young jeweller, Haoming (Jim) Nao graduated with B.F.A Jewellery Design & Metalsmithing at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (NSCAD University) and a minor in Art History. During his study, he joined several exhibitions and art shows. His artworks come across in between combining with all kinds of materials, from traditional material and metalsmithing techniques to contemporary materials and theories throughout his jewellery studies at NSCAD University.

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Title: De la puna

Materials: Copper, green patina, cork

Techniques: Fabrication, hydraulic forming, anticlastic forming

Dimensions: 11 x 7 x 7 cm (large) 7 x 6 x 6 cm (small)

Artwork Statement: Inspired by northern Argentinian vegetation and landscapes, these salt and pepper shakers represent the most arid region in the country, The Puna. Their corrugated texture stands for the distinctive mountains of the Atacama Desert as well as the choice of metal, copper, and finishing, green patina. Traditional metalsmithing techniques such as fabrication, hydraulic pressed and anticlastic forms were used in these pieces.

Artist Statement: My curiosity and adoration for nature motivated myself to design pieces inspired by Argentina´s diverse ecosystem, especially the region where I was born, Patagonia. I aspire to create one of a kind sophisticated jewellery and hollowware pieces that invite the wearer to connect with nature. Argentina’s breathtaking landscapes and stunning skies have a noticeable influence on my practice and are distinguishable characteristics in my pieces. Most of my work is fabricated by using traditional techniques combined with bioplastics, enamel, metal and nature related elements such as flowers, branches, stones, among others.

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Title: Patagonia

Materials: Copper, brass

Measures approx. 14 x 14.5 x 8 cm

Date: April 2022

Artwork Statement: As the name states, this functional teapot is inspired by the region where the artist was born, southern Patagonia. Known for its glaciers and views of The Andes, all these textures are represented in the piece by using different fabrication techniques combined with deep draw forming and reticulation. The design includes cast brass rosehip components found in the countryside and heat colouring that mimics Patagonic sunrises and sunsets.

Artist Statement: My curiosity and adoration for nature motivated myself to design pieces inspired by Argentina´s diverse ecosystem, especially the region where I was born, Patagonia. I aspire to create one of a kind sophisticated jewellery and hollowware pieces that invite the wearer to connect with nature. Argentina’s breathtaking landscapes and stunning skies have a noticeable influence on my practice and are distinguishable characteristics in my pieces. Most of my work is fabricated by using traditional techniques combined with bioplastics, enamel, metal and nature related elements such as flowers, branches, stones, among others.

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Title: Royal Mug

Object: Cup

Materials: Copper, sterling silver

Dimensions: 7 x 12.5 x 8.8 cm

Date: February 2022

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Title: Tied to Home

Materials: Copper textured with quartz

Dimensions: 11.5 x 10.5 x 7 cm

Date: April 2022

Artwork Statement: Growing up in Nova Scotia I feel connected to our rocky shoreline. The once-jagged rocks are eroded away by crashing waves into smooth round forms. This piece is meant to represent this erosion process in relation to mental health. We are formed by our surroundings and tied to our past like a loose piece of rope, washed ashore, caught in the rocks. This piece is tied together, but with copper wire. The main body is formed by first using a hydraulic press, then continued raising by hand. Finally textured with a large piece of raw quartz, this was done to create a stone-like exterior. When the piece is together it creates the shape of a feminine form, representing myself and paying homage to my home. 

Artist Statement: Silversmithing allows me to express the textures of my surroundings and their connection to our emotions. Through the combination of technical jewellery work and large scale sculptural holloware, I show how we are shaped by our past.

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Title: Snow Capped Sake bottle

Materials: Copper

Dimensions: 13 x 14 8 cm

Date: April 2021

Artwork Statement: This sake bottle is inspired by a snow-capped mountain. The cap turns into a cup when the drink is served. The piece is hand raised and fabricated with copper, patinated body and color pencil finished cap.

Artist Bio: Mavis Chen is a jewellery designer base in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Mavis finds with her interdisciplinary design background, she is able to look at Jewellery and Hollowware design from a different perspective, as she is always inspired by graphics and illustrations. In her work, she tries to find a balance between functional, aesthetic, and storytelling. Jewellery and hollowware is a medium she uses to communicate with the world.

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Title: Will There Be a Bird

Materials: Sterling silver, basswood

Dimensions: 20 x 17 x 9 cm

Date: April 2022

Artwork Statement: When this teapot was made, it is the third year that I was not able to go home, I wanted to commemorate home throughout this teapot. Moving between cities and countries happened quite a few times while I grow up. In my mind there are these spaces that I remember spending some time in, but none of them feels like home to me. One thing that keeps appearing in my memories is a bird cage, as my father loves having a pet bird. Slowly it became a symbol of home to me. My father loves petting bird as much as he loves drinking tea, for some reasons these two cultures share the same audience. So I brought these 2 elements into one teapot. I used sterling silver for the main body of this teapot, with some basswood touches, it brings back to the traditional bird cages which are usually made of wood.

Artist Bio: Mavis Chen is a jewellery designer base in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Mavis finds with her interdisciplinary design background, she is able to look at Jewellery and Hollowware design from a different perspective, as she is always inspired by graphics and illustrations. In her work, she tries to find a balance between functional, aesthetic, and storytelling. Jewellery and hollowware is a medium she uses to communicate with the world.

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Title: Taste of Spring

Object: teapot

Materials: Sterling silver

Dimensions: 21.5 x 8.9 x 7.5 cm

Date: April 2022

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Title: Textured Teapot

Materials: Copper, patina

Measures approx. 10 x 18 x 5 cm

Date: April 2022

Artwork Statement: This piece is an homage to my Mom. My Mom was a ceramist and, in her practice, she used a variety of fibres, nets and textiles to create impressions on the clay. Her work was heavily textured. After she passed away, I took a picture of the tools she used in her studio.Among them was a pile of fabrics and textiles she used in her work. I used similar fabrics and nets to texture the metal using roll printing and hammering. After the teapot was fabricated, I used green patina to color it and then sanded off the high parts, leaving the patina in the recesses.

Artist Statement: As an artist I am always interested in exploring and telling a narrative in a way that will evoke a feeling, a memory, or an impression. Even the relationship between the different elements of a piece can tell a story. My aim is to dig into my memories, feelings, impressions and be able to narrate them using different materials, connections, textures, and forms. In my practice I am trying to combine my love to textile practices and my fascination with jewellery and the metal arts.

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Title: Late Bloomer

Materials: Brass, silver plate

Dimensions: 10.5 x 18 x 12 cm

Date: February 2022

Artwork Statement: The yellow tulip, symbol of happiness, was my main inspiration for this project. I used the techniques of sinking to create the 4 half-bowls and etching to recreate a pattern of my own inside one of the bowls. I wanted to talk about the hard work that it takes to reach happiness. After being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, my therapist said something that struck me. She said that upon hearing the news, I did not break down but that instead I broke open, like a flower. This statement has become a focus in my work, utilizing the imagery of an abstracted flower to represent myself and my story My own pattern is being used through the technique of etching to represent the illness slowly taking more space in my life, but that also inevitably pushed me to work on myself to be happy.

Artist Bio: Noore Saleh (They/them), an Egyptian-Canadian artist, who graduated with honors from the École de Joaillerie de Montréal in 2019 in Jewellery Design and Metalsmithing. After serving as a teaching assistant in extended studies classes at the jewellery school while working on independent jewellery in their free hours, Noorehas since enrolled at NSCAD University to major in Jewellery Design and Metalsmithing to further their studies. They exhibited in galleries in Quebec with consistent themes revolving around fragility of mental and physical health with a focus on resilience facing those challenges.

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Title: Cigarette Monster

Materials: Copper, silver

Dimensions: 17 x 13 x 12 cm

Date: March 2022

Artwork Statement: The inspiration of the piece is my smoking addiction. I feel like it is a monster to myself. If I keep feeding it, it will grow, therefore putting out cigarettes in the ashtray is an act of feeding the monster. The main material is copper, and the eyes, claws, and teeth are silver. The monster was built with one giant spiculum with two small spiculums, and they are violently bent. I also applied electro-forming for the overall texture, to make it more monster-like.

Artist Bio: Rayce Min has been interested in crafting and expanding his artistic skills since high school. His primary experience with jewellery was the steam punk style jewellery he made for the school fair. Even though they were pre-made pieces glued together, he impressed people with his unique aesthetic toward jewellery, which he decided to develop further when he got into college. Real jewellery making and metalsmithing led him to a whole different understanding of jewellery, and metal became his favorite media. He appreciates how tough yet flexible the metals are. There are tons of different things he can do with metal. He is developing his jewellery/metalsmithing skills to incorporate his love of graffiti, especially the concept of leaving marks everywhere. Now he can leave marks on people, instead of just plain walls. Overall, he has been working toward the approach for a few years now, and he is still improving himself at NSCAD University.

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Title: Adulthood

Materials: Copper, silver

Technique: Deep draw forming, raising, forging, fabrication

Dimensions: 29 x 8 x 15 cm

Date: April 2022

Artwork Statement: The teapot was created to commemorate my transition from the mindset of a high school teenager to an adult mindset (more or less). I started to work, started to care about things and people, started to face superiors at work, had weird relationships with others, etc. All of them were stressing me out, and it felt like all of them fused into a giant blob that was sitting on me. And yet I was still trying to find a way out, which led to the overall form of the teapot. The main material is copper with a little bit of silver for the stitches. The body was made with deep draw forming, and forcefully crushed with the hydraulic press. The lid is a raised ball-shaped blob, with hand-cut cracks and solder patterning as decoration. The texture on the lid was made with a wood file. The spouts are bent tubes soldered together to create a branch look, and the handle was forged from a copper rod, creating anorganic look.

Artist Bio: Rayce Min has been interested in crafting and expanding his artistic skills since high school. His primary experience with jewellery was the steam punk style jewellery he made for the school fair. Even though they were pre-made pieces glued together, he impressed people with his unique aesthetic toward jewellery, which he decided to develop further when he got into college. Real jewellery making and metalsmithing led him to a whole different understanding of jewellery, and metal became his favorite media. He appreciates how tough yet flexible the metals are. There are tons of different things he can do with metal. He is developing his jewellery/metalsmithing skills to incorporate his love of graffiti, especially the concept of leaving marks everywhere. Now he can leave marks on people, instead of just plain walls. Overall, he has been working toward the approach for a few years now, and he is still improving himself at NSCAD University.

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Title: Sweet Tea Teapot

Materials: Sterling silver, brass, 24K gold plate, ribbon

Dimensions: 9.5 x 15 x 9.8 cm

Date: March 2022

Artwork Statement: Made from sterling silver, brass and plated with gold this fairy tale inspired teapot draws on the playful whimsy of the classical horse drawn carriage.

Artist Bio: Vanessa Shum was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. The medium that she mainly uses is sterling silver with various gemstones. She has attended the Jewellery Arts and Design program at the Vancouver Community College from 2018 to 2020. She is currently working towards a BFA with a major in Jewellery and Metalsmithing at NSCAD University. Her inspiration is drawn from nature and her ideas are shaped by the whimsy of the ever-changing world around her. She creates pieces that perform simple movements such as rolling or spinning.

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Title: Snail Candle Holder

Materials: Copper, brass, wax

Dimensions: 10.9 x 14.8 x 3.8 cm

Date: February 2022

Artwork Statement: This copper and brass candle holder was inspired by the gentle spiral in the cross section of snail shells.

Artist Bio: Vanessa Shum was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. The medium that she mainly uses is sterling silver with various gemstones. She has attended the Jewellery Arts and Design program at the Vancouver Community College from 2018 to 2020. She is currently working towards a BFA with a major in Jewellery and Metalsmithing at NSCAD University. Her inspiration is drawn from nature and her ideas are shaped by the whimsy of the ever-changing world around her. She creates pieces that perform simple movements such as rolling or spinning.

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Title: Dog’s Home

Object: teapot

Materials: Copper, brass, sterling silver, leather

Technique: Fabricated, cast

Dimensions: 16.5 x 15 x 7 cm

Date: April 2019

Artwork Statement: The teapot was inspired by my puppy. It has a very cute personality and will laugh and wag its tail in its nest when it is happy.

Artist Statement: I am interested in making table objects because I feel that they can convey my passion to everyone. They let more people think and feel the power of my work.

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Title: Time

Object: Hourglass vase

Materials: Copper, silver, cast bronze

Dimensions: 19 x 14 x 14 cm

Date: April 2022

Artist Statement: I am interested in making table objects because I feel that they can convey my passion to everyone. They let more people think and feel the power of my work.

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