Sarah EK Muse

Artist Statement: My current body of sculptural metal art is an amalgamation of my 15 years of jewelry making skills, various metalsmithing techniques and inspired compositions of dissected imagery from plant life, feminine symbolism and the human form. I combine gold, silver and particularly copper with fine craftsmanship, compositional translations that emerge from the metal through line, form, repeated elements and texture & color to create hand-formed metal relief's that capture a fragment of the whole, including wall hangings and jewelry, furniture and sculptural objects.

Non-ferrous metals (copper, silver, gold) are very malleable when heated to the annealed state. This allows me to form the metal using the following techniques. Through chasing and repoussé (tracing the design on the front of the piece with liner tools, then working the back of the piece to push the metal out into form using different punches, returning to the front to finish the details.), sinking (hammering on the inside of the object) and raising (hammering on the outside of the object), the pieces are transformed into the desired shape or design.

The color of each piece is achieved mainly with heat (using a torch to heat the piece to multiple temperatures and quenching many times), chemical compositions (patina solutions, ammonia and/or liver of sulfur), or colored pencil. By combining these traditional metalsmithing techniques with modern techniques and my own personal style, I have allowed my instincts to creatively transpose what I visualize into my art work.

I create new objects from repeated shapes, contours, and lines found in nature. Sketching, hammering, chasing, and forming. Experimenting with the plasticity of the metal and exploring how recognizable elements can evolve abstractly into a finished piece. The viewer may then envision the familiar or the unexpected.