A Saskatchewan Craft Council members’ group exhibition

Exhibitions of “small works” are a time-honoured tradition in galleries, often hosting many artists in a variety of media. In an effort to show many pieces by many makers, the works installed must then, by the necessity of space and physics, be small. Small Quirks is a display of SCC members’ works with a playful twist on that genre of exhibition. We asked for smaller pieces, to accommodate many of our talented craftspeople, makers, and artists. We also asked for “Quirks” – to be interpreted by the makers as they wished. A quirk is typically understood to be some sort of peculiar… thing. Perhaps an odd habit, unusual action, strange material, or, to be wordy, idiosyncratic characteristic. The result is this exhibition, featuring 72 Saskatchewan makers and 99 works, which is chock full of oddities, experimentations, and reflections.

This brooch originated with a complex resin casting that clearly had something to say, though it took a year of consideration to establish a design. Complementing the resin’s boldness, the metal form employs raising techniques often reserved for holloware. Anticlastic raising can feel like a conversation; my torch and hammer coax the metal from flat toward the intended shape, but I need to react as, by resisting, it informs the final direction the piece takes.

These earrings build on what I’ve learned from making many anticlastically formed pieces over the first decade of my career. Countless paper mock-ups and a collection of copper prototypes directed the pattern cut from a flat piece of silver. Applying thousands of hammer strokes, I balanced the metal’s malleability and tensility to slowly hollow-form the silver sheet into elegant botanical forms. Gold and resin accents add vibrancy and colour to these graceful, light-weight earrings.