Close Encounters - Closing Reception

(via openculture.com)

The scifi-themed group show I'm participating in is closing next week. The Arts Guild of New Jersey is having a closing reception and listening party on March 3, 2011. They will be playing the original radio broadcast of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds. It's a great opportunity to check out the show before it ends if you haven't already! More info here.

gems of fashion: Pamela Love

New York Fashion Week usually means a barrage of runway images and news feeds exploding with designer names and blog posts. It's rare that I come across an image that grabs me for a moment before I quickly try to ignore it as to avoid a mind clouded with trends. The above image from Pamela Love's Fall 2011 collection, which premiered at Milk Studios on Saturday, was the one that stopped me in my web-wandering tracks.

 

Chunky. Crystalline. Iridescent. What's not to love? I've always admired Pamela Love's work, even though some of it is too bohemian for my style (or too insanely expensive for my bank account). The pieces in this new collection, however, are like magical pendants of some science fiction goddess. They look weighty and strict in their geometry, but are also colorful and fun. The collection doesn't take itself too seriously, which is exactly what good jewelry should do. There is a union of heaven and earth that is so sweetly expressed in these pieces. Wearing a medallion of prismatic minerals, I imagine I'd be transported to another realm where glowing crystals are shooting stars and alien planets are ruled by celestial beings.

The installation that was behind the models during the show is also quite nice.

(images via HERE'S THE DEAL and Milk Made Live.)

JOYdropper covers Close Encounters

My friend Mark wrote a great piece for JOYdropper about Close Encounters. He said some really cool stuff about my Space Rocks!! Check it out here.

Up Close & Personal with Space Rocks

This weekend at the reception for Close Encounters, my sister took some nice detailed shots of a few of my sculptures. Thanks to everyone who came to the opening! If you missed it, the show is up until March 4th!

Close Encounters

My installation Space Rocks: A Look at Far-Out Minerals will be in a group show this month at the Arts Guild of New Jersey.

Science fiction has always been a touch point for the imagination. Whether the colonization of other planets, artificial intelligence, alien life forms, space travel, flying saucers, or area 51, the unknown, fantastical and weird act as inspiration to artists across the world. These topics have been explored in countless forms - writing, films, artwork and stories of all kinds. Eight artists working within this theme have been selected for Close Encounters. In addition, we are pleased to present the original radio broadcast of the War of the Worlds  from October 30, 1938, as part of the exhibition.

gems of fashion: Lanvin

Alber Elbaz's accessories for Lavin's 2010-2011 fall/winter collection look like magical viking armor straight out of an epic fantasy. This is some serious jewelry, certainly not for the faint of heart or weak of wrist.

These pieces are totally heavy! I can only imagine how heavy they are literally. Almost as if the person wearing them must earn them and be honored with the task. All of that metal and crystal is so intense and threatening, the elemental cherry-on-top of some fantastic battle gear. Just imagine all the of powers you could wield whilst wearing such decadence.

(all images via StyleBistro)

artist of interest: Debra Baxter

You have to believe we are all magic, 2010

ceramic, mirror, lab grown bismuth (Germany)

Sculpture created from ceramic, stone, and crystals! What could be more wonderful? Debra Baxter's work is a harmonious marriage of organic forms, sparkling surfaces, and elegant materials. I first came across her work online as I was browsing my tumblr feed. The piece Crystal Brass Knuckles (I am going to realign your chakras motherf*****) (pictured below) seemed to be everywhere in my mineralogical internet world. A powerful and humorous image, it's no wonder it generated attention from the fashionably sarcastic.

Crystal Brass Knuckles (I am going to realign your chakras motherf*****), 2009

quartz crystals, sterling silver

But humor and fashion aside, there is something more that draws me to this object. It looks like a magical weapon from another world, glowing against a blue moon and shooting lightning rays into a starry sky. The science fantasy aspect of Baxter's work is what I find so compelling. Any time a piece lends itself to the viewer's imagination and opens up a window into an original, individual fiction, I consider it successful.

Join (it will stop screaming if you let go of it), 2010
cypress knee, epoxy, laminate, mirror

Baxter's work is so aesthetically pleasing. The juxtaposition of smooth, fleshy alabaster and wood, brilliant crystals, and shining mirrors is so rich and satisfying. The use of these elements in her compositions provides plenty to draw the eye around each piece over and over again.

Not only does the artist create beautiful sculptures, she produces a collection of very wearable jewelry, which you can purchase here. Also check out her tumblr page, which has some great images of her work and inspirational images of crystals in nature, fashion, and art.

Quartz Bomb II

 (all images via http://www.debrabaxter.com/)