More than 20 metalsmiths from a new group galvanized two years ago will show their bits, bobs and baubles in an exhibit opening tomorrow night (Thursday) at the Port Moody Arts Centre.
Beyond the Precious is the second annual group display for the Vancouver Metal Arts Association, an organization modelled after the Seattle Metal Guild that was started in 2012 by well-known jewellery artists in Metro Vancouver.
For its Port Moody show, which runs Sept. 18 to Oct. 9, the association will highlight the unique work of jewellery artisans and sculptors - from recent graduates to professionals - who tell stories about their cultural backgrounds, skills and interests with precious (i.e., gold and sterling silver) and non-precious (brass, copper, steel and nickel) metals.
Among the participating VMAA members are Julie Kemble, Susan Remnant, Jan Smith and Urszula Petrowska, the latter being also a member of the Blackberry Artists' Society who sometimes mans its gift shop at PMAC.
"Telling a story through metalwork is basically like telling a story through sculpture," said Petrowska, who will have three silver and Baltic amber pieces on show. "A form or three-dimensional shape, colour, the idea behind the shape or what the shape represents tells the story."
Meanwhile, also opening on Thursday is a new exhibit titled Bloom by Robert Shiozaki, a PMAC teacher who exhibits at the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre in Burnaby, and Kathryn Gibson O'Regan. The pair will give a talk about their work at PMAC on Oct. 9 to close the two visual art shows.
