'CHARLES LEWTON-BRAIN THE CAGE SERIES'

摘要

Like three-dimensional line drawings in gold, 79 one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry from Charles Lewton-Brain's "Cage Series" glistened seductively for viewers of his solo show at the Fleury Gallery. The series, which the well-known Canadian artist began in late 2000, grew out of earlier cage-like masks and body art. The exhibition marked the first U.S. showing of this group; it included brooches, bracelets, rings, earrings, pendants, and a lone, fold-formed vessel. The mostly sculptural, grid-like structures of the "Cage Series" enclose and define space with small-gauge stainless steel wires that were fusion-welded together, then heavily electroformed-first with copper, then with 24k gold. Many of these fabricated jewelry forms resemble man-made metal objects that have been submerged and altered by the natural growth processes of the ocean. The work recalls images of sunken artifacts sheathed with layers of microscopic animal and mineral deposits: encrusted wire mesh, steel cables, and collapsing iron frameworks that long ago surrendered their practical, above-water existence to a new purpose undersea. In fact, the technical process of electrodeposition has many parallels to the phenomenon of salt-water accretion.