Artist: Kelly Johnson
Orchid Gallery: http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/kellyjohnson.htm
My art is an illustration of using inherent properties within
materials to create a design. By skating the edges between chaos and
control during torch fusing processes, it is possible to suspend a
moment in time, which is microscopic, fleeting, and usually dies
unnoticed. My hope for the viewer is to enrapt the imagination as
mine has become with the spirit of the materials, which in turn
opens a window on to processes happening on a molecular
level…materials that are traditionally viewed as ‘precious’ have
value beyond currency or even the aesthetic…these metals have
secret lives that are dramatically played out according to their
chemical and physical natures.
Our post-industrial availability of luxurious materials combined
with metalworking techniques that are thousands of years old invite
the viewer to not only see the art, but to also to wear and be
affected by it in the uniquely personal experience that jewelry
provides. I am fascinated that universally, one of the first orders
of business for the human animal after food, shelter, and comfort,
is to ornament oneself. The forge and the fire provide the stage for
the spirit to emerge from the metal, the artist, the wearer, and the
viewer. All must participate or the experience is diminished, the
circle incomplete. It is analogous to the larger cycles of existence
in which we find ourselves.