Smithsonian Craft Show 2014

 

 

 

April 10-13, 2014 National Building Museum Washington, D.C
                

In a world hurrying to get someplace fast every day and hour, a desire for respite seems insistent but unfulfillable. The tide of life sweeps us along, whether it is the demands of one’s job or the many expectations society heaps on us. However, each spring there is a space where time can stand still, and it is to be found in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian Craft Show is a very special four-day annual pop-up for the leisurely exploration of what the careful investments of human creative energy bring to our lives, and to reflect on the paramount importance of time in enabling creativity. The time it takes to make an object, be it glass vessel, wooden chair, clay pot, woven basket, silken dress, or silver necklace, includes not only the hours or sometimes days taken to create a piece, but also years of investigation, training and practice spent learning the techniques used in making it. Each was a journey that required many steps and an education of triumphs and mistakes.

Take the life-path of Isabelle Posillico, a Danish-American artist hailing from California who started her career running a construction company, having a degree in architectural interior design. However, with the downturn in the economy, she took a jewelry and metalsmithing class and fell in love with the process of direct hands-on experience. “Within this medium of jewelry, I could design and create in a short period something that I could hold in my hands,” states Posillico.

For the jeweler, family life and contact with wearable art from a young age had primed the wonder of craft. “Being Danish, I grew up with good solid design surrounding me. I had real gold and silver jewelry pieces passed down in the family, and even though they were old pieces, they were beautifully designed. At fourteen I was given a silver Cetus link bracelet designed by Bjorn Weckstrom for Lapponia with the most amazing hidden clasp, a piece of sculpture,” she relates. What was important for building her fascination was her ability to relate to craft directly, in her immediate environment. “My mother wore jewelry collected from Egypt, Sri Lanka and Africa as well as classic Danish jewelry, very elegant,” Posillico remembers. Her mother had another influence on the artist. “She instilled that you weren’t dressed until you put your jewelry on.” Patrick R. Benesh-Liu is Associate Editor of Ornament and has written articles on museum exhibitions, contemporary jewelers and clothing makers, and craft shows. As an attendee of the Smithsonian Craft Show for the last several years, he regularly contributes Ornament’s coverage of this celebrated event. He also compiles the latest jewelry and clothing related events from around the world in Ornament’s news section. This year his coverage includes the annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market, a destination he always relishes attending, schedule permitting.

 

 

by Patrick R. Benesh-Liu
issue 37.2

 

 

Patrick R. Benesh-Liu
Patrick R. Benesh-Liu is Associate Editor for Ornament Magazine and has written articles on museum exhibitions, contemporary jewelers and clothing makers, and craft shows. In this issue he gives an exposé on the Savannah College of Art & Design, a multi-national institution with its main campus based in its eponymous town. He describes how in the modern age, humanity despite its struggles is finally equipped to pursue its own dreams and desires, and relates how SCAD works to support a person’s interest in reinventing themselves as an artist and craftsperson. He also compiles the latest jewelry and clothing related events from around the world in Ornament’s news section.

 

  

 

 

This article in its entirety appears only in the print magazine.

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