Hayley Josephs: capstone

Abstract

The artist's statement: My whole life, I have been a maker. Creating art has never been my hobby or simply a way to pass the time. Rather, giving physical form to ideas is something that I cannot help but do and it is through metalsmithing and the fabrication of my own jewelry pieces that I am able to find self-expression. I am precise and mathematical while simultaneously having a fascination with organic forms. Metal is the ideal medium to allow me to work with these two sides of myself in harmony. Jewelry has a power that no other art form possesses; its central purpose is to be worn. The result is that the value and meaning of a jewelry piece is fluid, changing based on the wearer's experiences as the piece is carried over time. In my art, I create narrative pieces that help me understand and come to terms with the things I experience. The way I feel about a piece at its completion is only the beginning of what it may come to mean as time passes. When placed into the context of another wearer's life, the works may digress even further from the ideas that originally inspired their creation. The result is that the pieces begin to gather histories of their own that transcend my life as their maker. Ultimately, my jewelry functions as daily reminders of my own stories, whose effects are still shaping and influencing the person I am becoming. My current work springs from a need to stay connected to the natural world as I increasingly find myself viewing nature and seasonal changes from a distance. By trying to capture the sun's trajectory throughout the growing season, and the subsequent effects on the organic and inorganic objects found in my own backyard and the surrounding Colorado landscape, I am attempting to reconnect myself to the earth. By documenting seasonal growth and natural imagery, in combination with imagery from the Western heritage of Colorado itself, I am creating a new visual language to discuss my need to retain ties to my homeland as I begin to forge my own path into lands unknown.