>Crafting a Concept
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Today, I took a break from doing beadwork to go to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I hadn't been there in awhile, and today it was free to attend due to the Columbus Day holiday. I went to go see the special exhibition "Jewelry by Artists: The Daphne Farago Collection". Some of the pieces were wild and seemingly impractical, but some were just beautiful, including a beaded necklace made by Jacqueline Lillie.
After spending some time there, I went to the next exhibit "Shy Boy, She Devil, and Isis : The Art of Conceptual Craft". The pieces are selections from the Wornick Collection which primarily includes furniture, metalwork, sculpture, and fiber art. They are said to capture 'an important moment' in the evolution of three- dimensional contemporary art. I also read that these pieces document 'an era in which materials-based artists in clay, glass, metal, wood and fiber moved toward the creation of expressive sculptural forms that stand alone as objects of art, without a utilitarian purpose'. Could be... but where was the beadwork, I wondered... I didn't see any at this exhibit...
Beadwork is a craft that should also be seen as fine art. Beads are a medium which can be handcrafted out of many different materials such as glass, wood, metal, paper, clay, or felt. With the help of fiber, wire, clay, or other materials, beads can be sculpted into extreme dimensional forms using both traditional and contemporary techniques. But still, we continue to see beadwork only in jewelry and cultural exhibits. It is time that international fine art museums start thinking outside the box, and display more beaded forms and sculptures in contemporary and modern art exhibits, as well. My collage below demonstrates this concept...
This piece is entitled 'Fire Truck Made of Beads & A Table Made of Wood'. I'll just let the art speak for itself...
