Alternative Materials Category

Come Fly

Artist: Christine Terrell (Austin, TX)
Honorable Mention, Alternative Materials

"I wanted to incorporate my interest in paper and collage into wearable art. I had recently started making wearable pieces with recycled steel containers (like cookie tins) and decided to try a collage on one of the unprinted bases. After finalizing the basic collage, I took a disc cutter and cut a section for my piece. I then added the bird cutout and a few more inked layers. Realizing that I wanted a more finished look for the collage, I tried several transparent options. Ultimately, I decided to go with another disc, cut from a single layer of mica. I liked the slight color shift and durability this brought to the piece. However, it took some experimentation to learn how to properly incorporate it. After several attempts, I finally determined it was important to have exactly one layer of mica and to first adhere it with gel medium directly to the collage. Once the mica was secured to the collage, I then created a 'sandwich' consisting of the collage, cherry wood and another steel piece for the reverse side. Through this, I drilled four holes and riveted the 'sandwich' together with 22-gauge German silver wire. I decided to drill a channel through the wooden core of the pendant for the choker cable to pass through, in order to keep the clean circular lines of the piece. Steel neck cables are the perfect complement to the simplicity of the final pendant." - Christine Terrell

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