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

JUNE 4 — 24, 2022

The Silver Society of Canada seeks to encourage the next generation of metalsmiths through an annual award given to institutions with silversmithing programs. Kye-Yeon Son, Professor of Jewellery Design and Metalsmithing at NSCAD University, teamed up with Lisa Pai at L. A. Pai Gallery to exhibit the approximately 20 pieces of hollowware, each expressing a unique narrative reflective of its maker.

Son, a Governor General/Saidye Bronfman Laureate who is renowned internationally for her vessels, comments:

“I’m always amazed at the result of students’ work with basic silversmithing technique[s]. I want students to have experience of what contemporary silversmithing is and develop their confidence in the fabrication of larger pieces.” 

The students are recent graduates, with classes covering techniques such as forging, large-scale fabrication, hand raising and sinking, deep draw hydraulic press forming, anticlastic and synclastic forming, chasing, and repoussé; techniques exemplified in the exhibition works.

Emma Piirtoniemi reviewed the exhibition work in her article for MetalAid Canadian Art Jewellery Network:  ‘While the projects presented include making specific functional objects like candle holders, teapots, and other vessels, it’s clear that students imbued these objects with rich storytelling— often biographical—reaching far beyond functionality. They brave the complexities of life, loss, change, and challenges through these works that in one form or another, all come our way. To celebrate student achievement and make space for them to share their artistic voices is indeed a powerful way to encourage the next generation of metalsmiths. As Son hints, “This is my small effort in this small corner of Canada to keep a little flame of hollowware [alive] for students so when they leave, they keep this flame of interest. I just want them to have confidence [that] they can do it, and be proud of what they’ve done.”