Elemental: Fine Crafts from the Collection

Featuring Artists of the Florida and the Southeastern United States

Fine Crafts Gallery

Ongoing

This selection of fine crafts from the collection is based on the classical elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, water, and air. In ancient cultures, such as the Wu Xing of Chinese tradition, these elements were used for describing the interactions and relationships between phenomena in nature.

In this exhibition, the interrelationship of these classical elements is explored through contemporary fine craft mediums including jewelry, pottery, decorative arts, sculpture and installation, textiles and paper.  Using an amalgam of ancient raw materials and modern ingenuity, these artists stretch the boundaries of earth’s elements in metal, wood, clay, glass and other natural media into form and function. Drawing inspiration from natural environments throughout Florida and the Southeastern United States, they explore the origins of their media and evoke the passages of time from old and new civilizations.

This exhibition presents an overview of fine craft media that elevates traditional techniques, such as papermaking, ceramics and glass, into contemporary art. Traditional crafts have been defined as objects intended to be decorative as well as functional, such as ceramics or jewelry. As an applied art form, craft is often categorized by the materials used. As an accessible and tangible medium, traditional craftwork offers an explanation of why an object was created. The attention to thoughtful design of a common object makes our daily routine more interesting.

In contemporary art, a finely crafted functional object can also be a vehicle for artistic expression. Meant to interact with its beholder and function aesthetically, a fine craft object provides a creative outlet for its maker that blurs the lines between fine art and learned skill. The artists in this exhibition are masters of their craft. With refined skills, they experiment with technique and design, while reveling in their medium of choice. Evoking a sense of wonder, they extend fine craft beyond functional form into pure sculptural abstraction.

(Image: Installation view)