We’ve been invited to show in this year’s Exhibition in Print, Metalsmith magazine’s annual issue that features the work of both national and international artists in a special format, different from the publication’s regular columns and articles. We’ve never submitted anything for consideration before (mostly because the EIP is known for selecting very high concept pieces, which is not our domain), but when I saw that this year’s theme is “Gothic” and read the prospectus, it resonated with me:
“Gothic” is an epithet with a strange history — evoking images of death, destruction and decay. From its origins in the 18th-century literature of terror to its contemporary manifestations in art, cinema and design, the gothic is associated with the powers of horror and the erotic macabre.
But contemporary gothic jewelry involves far more than just skull rings. It draws on the imagery of medieval body armor, ecclesiastical design, the Victorian cult of mourning, taxidermy, body parts (especially blood, bone, and skin), and the femme fatale, as well as ideas about decadence, memory, and fear. The 2012 Exhibition in Print will explore all aspects of contemporary gothic jewelry.
This year’s curator is Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and we are thrilled that she has selected our “Cabinet of Curiosities” to be part of the Exhibition in Print.
