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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2004)
BY SYLVIE PEDERSEN Wearable Fine Art Sculpture A Hannah Goldrich retrospective F or five decades counted among con- temporary metalsmiths who demon- strate that jewelry can be approached as a fine art, Hannah Goldrich creates unique pieces, which stand alone as small-scale sculp- ture. Her aesthetic vision is not subject to the whims of fashion and time, however deeply it may belong to this period and culture. Goldrich’s 50-Year Jewelry Retrospective is ex- hibited at the Jacobs Gallery through May 29. Jewelry is not merely a fine art. It is func- tional, and function imposes formal constraints. Wearable art must be pleasing to both the eye and to touch, not just to the skin but to the three- dimensional, moving body, in a most intimate relationship. Goldrich does not forget this. Jewelry is also a craft, which means that quality of workmanship and materials are para- mount, whereas in non-functional art other con- siderations may override. In her attention to de- tail, Goldrich thinks like a master craftsman as well as a fine artist. Even the hidden parts of her work — her clasps — deserve display. Goldrich grew up in an aesthetically ap- pointed home in New York City with supportive parents who loved and understood art. Early on, she became acquainted with the work of mod- ernist metalsmiths Paul Lobel, Sam Kramer and Ed Wiener, who broke away from mainstream jewelry design and laid the ground for subse- quent generations of fine-artist jewelers. Goldrich never studied jewelry formally. Her university degrees were in sociology (Antioch) and education (Harvard). To learn the metalsmith’s craft, she became jeweler Charles Hopkins’s apprentice in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1956. She designed pieces for him, and he in turn showed her the techniques to create them. After moving to Eugene in 1963, Goldrich took courses from UO professor Max Nixon, who became her mentor. Although she taught 15 years at Maude Kerns Art Center, to this day she still enjoys taking workshops. Goldrich’s aesthetics and grasp of design were in place from the start, as were the hall- marks of her style. Sterling silver, 14-carat yel- low gold, gemstones and pearls have always been her materials of choice. She generally uses construction techniques instead of casting. She cuts out small, individual component parts from metal sheet and wire. She textures and shapes them, soldering them together “like a jigsaw puzzle,” a patient, work-intensive process. Goldrich favors a strong, fluid line and ele- gant simplicity, whether the piece is minimalist such as “Sawtooth Serenity” pin, a 1958 choker with a bold, wing-like horizontal pendant bear- ing an off-center pearl, or created from compo- nent parts, such as “Proud Headpiece” or the solar “Fritz Goro’s Opal.” Her forms are usually organic, inspired by female curves, leaves, buds or teardrops. And central to her design is an ex- quisite sense of asymmetrical balance. Asymmetry provides visual complexity, which, combined with flowing lines, gives a sense of freedom and the unexpected. Goldrich learned the techniques of inlay and texturing with a rolling mill in 1978 at a work- shop in Haystack, Maine, and a variety of subtle textures became another characteristic of her work. “Haystack Moon” (1978) is a rounded rectangular pin whose abstract landscape we may interpret as a lightly textured silver ocean reflecting the light of a pearl-moon and lapping at an ebony shore. Goldrich considers 1990 to have been the beginning of her properly narrative work, when the death of friends prompted her to tell stories and express emotions through her art. But from the start, she created figurative pieces, which in- evitably hint at a story, as well as non-represen- tative, formalist jewelry. Early neckpieces, “Intimate Leaves” (1976) and “Winged Foliage” (1977), reach an apex in terms of for- mal design, based in both cases on a leaf motif. I think of them as royal pieces. Not the stilted, fussy, glittery kind associated with institutional royalty, but royal in a simpler, freer, more per- sonal and primary way, for a queen such as Hatshepsut of Sheba or for a pagan goddess. “From the Boreal Depths” (2002) follows in the same vein. Its biomorphic shape evokes both an opening bud and a female form. Goldrich often replicates in the metal section of a piece the characteristics of a stone used in that same piece. Here the silver’s texture at left mir- rors that of a fossilized coral at right, while the color of both is echoed in a dark gray pearl at the bottom. The form of that pearl is in turn re- peated in the silver beads at the top. “Hannah’s Pendant,” with its poised balance and light texture, shows a more geometric de- sign, although angles are still softened, and asymmetry still plays a central role. Her figurative pieces include landscapes. Whether pins or pendants, these are genuine bas-relief sculptures, albeit miniature ones. “Urban Views” (1958) is the earliest in the show, with individually enameled, colorful sky- scrapers against a deep blue night sky and fore- ground elements in relief. A majority are ex- quisitely stylized renditions of the Northwest, which bring to the fore her sense of composi- tion, her subtle use of contrasting textures, and an ability to maximize the effects of individual stones. “It’s Just the Tip” was inspired by Alaskan glaciers whose color and brilliance is captured by a chrysocalla drusy placed off-center among richly textured mountains. “Oregon Wonder” distills Western Oregon in three tightly inte- grated parts: a stylized silver-and-gold moun- tain landscape, a Morrison Ranch jasper with hill-depicting striation, and a luxuriant green in- dicolite. Goldrich visits Mexico every year. To Oaxaca we owe several delightful pieces. “From the Museum Window in Oaxaca #1” and “#2” represent views from the Santa Domingo museum. The first, framed in the shape of a shrine, is a delicately textured bas-relief of houses, trees and mountains. The second is a one-point-perspective, vertical tableau of a building-lined street under a tall sky. “Casa Panchita,” unframed, has the power and magic of a miniature world. The female figure is a recurrent motif in Goldrich’s figurative and narrative work. Gentle, affectionate humor characterizes her few animal figures (“Hansel,” “Hoot”) but is also often present in her portrayal of woman (“Senora,” “Hampelfrau”). A sense of liberated energy imbues “Go, Girl!,” a bellydancer, torso bared and a pearl in her navel. “She’s Dancing Through Her Sixties” was inspired by Carolyn Heilbrun’s book. Goldrich’s ongoing story of woman in- cludes themes not often found in art, let alone jewelry. “Menopausal Moods,” a reversible pendant, shows what a woman experiences dur- ing menopause. With understanding and humor, one side expresses the torment of hot flashes ir- radiating from a fire-opal womb and the storm- ing emotions that accompany hormonal changes. On the other side, inner peace is re- gained, and the womb, a cool green tsavorite, is settled. Hannah Goldrich (above) Loss (lower right) Casa Panchita (lower left) “The Wonder of Birth” tells of an earlier stage of womanhood with a wonderful mix of symbolic stylization and realism. The pregnant belly is a locket that contains a cast-silver infant with a hand-wrought chain for an umbilical cord. “Secrets” (the woman’s chest is another locket), “Woman Embracing Her Stories,” “Elusive Totem” and “Turquoise Mother,” all differently convey the mystery at the core of womanhood. Some pieces tell stories in an oblique, sym- bolic way, while others bring cultural symbols to bear on personal stories, as does “Hamsa for Ursie,” a “healing hand” with amethyst created to make her sister feel better. “The Crying World of 2001,” which the title describes, was done after 9/11. Making “Never Again” and “Forgive, but Don’t Forget” was a way to deal with her emotions after a visit to Heilbronn, the German town Goldrich’s family fled from in 1937. Similarly, “Peace in the Middle East 1992” followed a trip to Israel. Powerful in its economy, the pin beautifully combines stylized religious architectural elements and symbols from the three religions that hold Jerusalem sa- cred. ew Laveta’s SECONDHAND TREASURES A unique mix of new & used furniture, eclectic antiques, glassware, collectibles, & funky stuff 10% OFF REGULARLY PRICED ITEMS with this ad through 05/31/04. 442 M AIN S TREET • S PRINGFIELD , OR 97477 • (541) 741-6794 MAY 13, 2004 21
