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Guest post - Barry Smith

Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 by Jewelry making supplies New York City

From Junk to Jewellry
by Barry Smith

A conversation that pops up from time to time amongst artists is: what do you call the art of those who take discarded and found materials and objects and turn them into something new.

Ken Munsie says his work is “rescued assemblage art”; SooZeQue seems to be a “resurrectionist”; Luthien is a mixed media artist; Mairedodd and Noela Mills lean towards “wabi sabi”; and Stregata is a “collector”.

So what tag do I want to associate with my art and jewelry? I have decided after some thought to call myself a metamorphic. Why? Because in the main my work is characterised by metamorphosis or a change in physical form or substance. I love to take metal and objects and give them a new life as something else and imbued with other meanings.

I am both a hands and head artist. I love the physical aspects of my making – cutting, recycling, dismantling, beating, attaching, polishing; and I also like my work to have the potential to not only portray some aspect of change and beauty but also to offer the opportunity for deeper meaning and messages.

Four factors merge in what I do:

use my hands (part of me is in the work);
re-use materials (don’t leave too big of a footprint on the environment);
be mindful (impart meaning and energy into what I’m working on); and
enjoy what I do (find joy in the creative process).

I mostly start with a product in mind. I don’t often sketch the piece but I have an image in my mind’s eye. I try not to be rigid in how the piece will end up - if along the way I see a direction I can take or an element that I can add I often let that new element in. So the final piece often has many of the characteristics of what I envisaged but also those that came with the flow.

My art works can take many forms and sizes – a piece of ‘harvested’ EPNS jewelry; a foldformed cuff bracelet; a formed metal leaf; a beaten meditation bowl; a font for reflection; a timber monolith or marker; sometimes it can even cover the side of a building.