Installation image of My House – Tanya Lippe’s Lunch Box, made out of lunch box steel, stainless steel, vitreous enamel. 2016
Tanya Lippe’s Lunch Box
Micki Lippe gave me the lunch box that used to belong to her daughter. She also gave me a book of poetry written by Tanya, published posthumously. Together they formed a commission; use one to make the other into something, which at least would get the old black relic out of the basement.
As an implement, a lunch box suggests forward planning, nourishment, and the day-to-day banality of life. But without its rightful owner? As an inheritance, the container became a reliquary. Though less tangible, the poems are a more instructive fragment of her life. They reference her – her feelings, her body. Yet her eyes never saw nor skin touch the bound object.
The box’s meaning again shifted when transferred into my hands, radically. Through reinterpretation it is now literally intertwined with the poetry of Tanya’s life, its former narrative burden becoming the liberator of its form.
Detail image of work My House – Tanya Lippe’s Lunch Box, made out of lunch box steel, stainless steel, vitreous enamel. 2016.
Yesterday my newly finished piece My House: Tanya Lippe’s Lunch Box was installed at Bellevue Arts Museum just in time for the opening of the much anticipated juried metal exhibition Metalmorphosis, which opens this Thursday night.
Delivery of the pieces and installation went smoothly, though the complexity of hanging my piece made it the longest single hang of the exhibition thus far (Maria Phillips’ hang was still in progress – I think she’s now officially the longest BAM hang of all time!) … A dubious honour I can tell you, as Elizabeth, who I spent the day working with, is a real pro. That said, the 3rd floor of the museum was an incredible place to be yesterday, especially as most of the works were in situ (and those with power were running) and it is looking really magnificent. I hitched a ride home with Kirk Lang (a locally-based jeweller/sculptor who is an incredibly precise metalsmith and artist) and both of us were sharing our experience of awe on arrival into the space, at seeing the pieces already installed. It’s a little hard to communicate how amazed and thrilled I am to have my work precariously dangled alongside the glorious fruits of so many high calibre artists and artisans.
Needless to say, if you’re in the Seattle area and you haven’t already got a ticket, then please consider yourself invited to the Thursday night shindig by me! You can head over to the ticketing page and grab a ticket for the opening night party that starts at 6pm on Thursday the 1st, or they’ll be $20 on the door. If you’re willing to wait a day (you will miss out on seeing me though…) you can have free entry for Friday’s opening to the general public. And if you’re in Seattle right now but are going to be in town before February, I encourage you to get along. It’s a heck of a show, and I’ve not even seen it fully installed yet!
From the exhibition media:
BAM received a record-breaking 330 applications for this year’s biennial. From this vast and talented pool of applicants, 49 Northwest artists were selected to participate:
The Heat Exchange Exhibition is in Scotland at St Andrews Museum, Fife, and to coincide with the final weeks that it is there on display, there is a symposium on Friday the 19th of February:
“The event will begin at St Andrews Museum (Kinburn Park, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, KY16 9DP) with registration and an informal tour of the exhibition, Heat Exchange II. The remaining part of the event then takes place at the Byre Theatre (Abbey Street, St Andrews, KY16 9LA)
I’d encourage you to hit the link above to get along but the event is now fully booked, but you can get in touch via that link in order to be put on the wait list.
If you’re no where near the show you can see images of all the works installed at the first Cardiff incarnation of the exhibition on the Heat Exchange website here and here. My favourite at the moment is the collaboration between partners Cath Fairgrieve and Andy Griffiths.
“San Título”, courtesy of Cristina Celis and Sin Título
Two things..
– Sin Título is opening their new studios in Mexico City tomorrow night, and with it they open an exhibition of jewellery for their patron saint, San Título. (Head back in time and read what happened when I met with them last year, and the event that kicked off this collaboration.) During last year Part B teamed up with Sin Título to work on a project together. We have created jewels for the saint, photographed them in Melbourne (and Seattle…) and these will now be displayed on the walls of Sin Título’s new digs in their first studio exhibiton. If you’re in Mexico, please check it out!
Jueves 30 de abril – 7pm
“Sin Título” Estudio de Joyería
Dr. Mora 9, 2o piso interior 22
Centro, Cuauhtémoc
México, D.F.
– A quick reminder that I’m giving an artist lecture tomorrow night at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
“Join artist-jeweler Melissa Cameron as she presents her work through images and words in the BIMA Auditorium. This event is a special Meet the Artist presentation in conjunction with her 2014 Artist Fellowship through Artist Trust. Thu, Apr. 30, 2015 6:30pm — 8:30pm”
I’m going to be talking about my art, my heritage, my moves across OZ and to the US, my inspirations and my work – the laser cut pieces and the hand-cut object series, and I’ll include a sneak peak of the EscalationSeries that I’ve been working on for the last two years. Don’t know what I mean and live within a 25 mile radius of Seattle? I encourage you to come along and listen to my tale. We can take the ferry-ride across to BIMA together!
Just a quick heads up: in a month’s time I’m giving an artist lecture at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art on Bainbridge Island just across the sound from Seattle, in Washington, presented by Artist Trust.
