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Jennifer and John Walsh
Metalsmiths
Jennifer
and John Walsh live in Bozeman, MT. with their three daughters and the
occasional bear wandering through their studio from the nearby woods. They
fabricate contemporary jewelry using ancient techniques and materials. The
process begins with a series of sketches frequently inspired by finding a
material and musing as to whether or not it could be worn as a piece of
jewelry. Striving to use materials that a woman from prehistory might have
been attracted to, the artists applies a variety of surface treatments and
patinas that mimic decay, while elevating these “low” materials by
constructing them with precious metals and stones. The forces of decay and
decrepitude and human persistence in the face of these elements are a major
influence in their work. It is for this reason that they rarely choose the
thing that’s new and shiny, preferring instead to use, for instance, a
fossil, bit of bone, or a river stone that’s been worn smooth. They apply
a variety of surface treatments and patinas that mimic decay, and they feel
that people are instinctively attracted to these pieces because in them we
see a metaphor for the wear and tear of our daily modern lives: the thing
that’s been worn smooth by centuries of friction between water and sand, yet
emerged from this a burnished and more beautiful piece than when it started.
Incorporating these elements into their jewelry – stones gathered from local
rivers, hand-cut bones, shells, and bits of wood – imparts a sense of
continuity and timelessness to the wearer.
Jennifer
and John Walsh live in Bozeman, MT. with their three daughters and the
occasional bear wandering through their studio from the nearby woods. They
fabricate contemporary jewelry using ancient techniques and materials. The
process begins with a series of sketches frequently inspired by finding a
material and musing as to whether or not it could be worn as a piece of
jewelry. Striving to use materials that a woman from prehistory might have
been attracted to, the artists applies a variety of surface treatments and
patinas that mimic decay, while elevating these “low” materials by
constructing them with precious metals and stones. The forces of decay and
decrepitude and human persistence in the face of these elements are a major
influence in their work. It is for this reason that they rarely choose the
thing that’s new and shiny, preferring instead to use, for instance, a
fossil, bit of bone, or a river stone that’s been worn smooth. They apply
a variety of surface treatments and patinas that mimic decay, and they feel
that people are instinctively attracted to these pieces because in them we
see a metaphor for the wear and tear of our daily modern lives: the thing
that’s been worn smooth by centuries of friction between water and sand, yet
emerged from this a burnished and more beautiful piece than when it started.
Incorporating these elements into their jewelry – stones gathered from local
rivers, hand-cut bones, shells, and bits of wood – imparts a sense of
continuity and timelessness to the wearer.
