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| about | ||
megan resides in Jonestown, Pennsylvania, where she maintains a studio making sculpture and jewelry. Her work explores the floral patterns found in textiles and decorative ironwork. megan employs a torch welding technique to create her steel jewelry and sculpture. |
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| artist statement | ||
Through excessive decoration, I examine the way we perceive domesticity and the contemporary home. The floral patterns I employ in my work are inspired by the patterns that appear on both printed and embroidered textiles. The patterns also borrow from contemporary advances in digital textile production that eliminate the need for repeat patterning. Floral patterned textiles have often played a crucial role in the creation of the home, yet the rise of Modernism relegated these patterns to the margins. The removal of floral patterned textiles from the home parallels the devaluation of domesticity and femininity in interior decoration. However, the recent outburst of floral patterned objects coincides with a renewed interest in the home. By recreating furnishings and pillows using floral patterns rendered in steel wire, I eliminate the need for internal structure. Each object becomes a visual signifier of the ideals of the home, rather than a functional object. The loss of function highlights the tension between comfort and display in the contemporary home. I eliminate conventional indications of comfort such as padding and fabric through the use of steel. While my living room is intended for display, it creates the illusion of an inviting, comfortable space, through the articulation of subtle, curving surfaces. |
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| resume | ||
education 2006 MFA in Jewelry/Metals/Enameling 2003 BFA Magna cum Laude with Honors in Metalsmithing
selected exhibitions 2006 Craft Forms 2006, Wayne Art Center; Wayne, PA Multiples, Heidi Lowe – The Jewelry Studio; Rehoboth Beach, DE The Art of Craft; B.J. Spoke Gallery; Huntington, NY Thoughts Materialized; Mars Gallery; Chicago, IL MFA Thesis Exhibition; Kent State University School of Art Gallery; Kent, OH impermanence; Elise Mankes Gallery; Marblehead, MA Crafts National; Lancaster Museum of Art; Lancaster, PA The Arsenal Metals and Enamels Exhibition 2006; Cultural Arts Center; Columbus, OH 2005 Alumni Metalsmiths; Syracuse University Deans’ Gallery; Syracuse, NY Resources: Steel, Rubber, Coal and Salt; Cleveland Museum of Natural Exhibition in Motion V; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum; 2004 Personal Adornment: Africa & America; Eells Gallery; Cuyahoga Falls, Unclothed: A Mixed Media Runway Event; Colonial Arcade; Cleveland, Metals-A-Go-Go; Florida International Museum; St. Petersburg, FL 2003 Arm_work 2003; Hiestand Gallery; Oxford, OH (honorable mention) Please Touch-Honors Thesis Exhibition (solo show); Zoid Gallery; Abundance – BFA Metals Exhibition; Coyne Gallery; Syracuse, NY An Inch of Time is an Inch of Gold; Coyne Gallery; Syracuse, NY
honors 2006 Judge’s Selection; Cain Park Arts Festival; Cleveland Heights, OH 2004 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Educational Endowment Blossom Summer Workshop Scholarship, Kent State University; Kent, OH 2003 Angell Scholar (Honors Thesis Funding), Syracuse University; Syracuse, NY
related experience 2006-Present Visiting Assistant Professor, Metals & Jewelry, Towson University; Towson, MD 2004-2006 Part-time Instructor, School of Art, Kent State University; Kent, OH 2005 Studio Custodian, Metals Studio, Kent State University; Kent, OH 2003 Graduate Teaching Assistant, School of Art, Kent State University; Kent, OH
bibliography 2007 “Finders Keepers”, Sharon Elaine Thompson. Art Jewelry, Vol. 3, Issue 2, January 2007 2006 “Review: Resources: Steel, Rubber, Coal, Salt” Lynn Cool, Metalsmith, Vol. 26, Spring 2006. 2005 500 Bracelets, Lark Books, 2005, juror- Charon Kransen The Penland Book of Jewelry, Lark Books, 2005 500 Brooches, Lark Books, 2005, juror- Marjorie Simon |
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