|
Janice Ho
Growing up, it never occurred to me that art or anything that involved working with your hands was a possible way of life. I did know from a very early age, that I did not like to get up early, hated, and could not imagine getting "dressed" for work. Luckily, I dropped out of college.
My jewelry education began in 1997 with a fortuitous meeting at Rockit's Pizza in Bloomington, Indiana with Peruvian goldsmith, Arturo Rodriguez. I spent a couple years apprenticing with him, a few more teaching myself by absorbing books and experimenting in my home studio (one year my rolling mill lived in my bedroom), several months at an independent jewelry academy, and two semesters dropping in on forging, casting, and pewtersmithing classes taught by Fred Fenster at the University of Wisconsin.
My Chinese heritage serves as a somewhat unconscious influence on my work, through the philosophies I was raised with and the aesthetics of the traditional objects that surrounded my daily life. A sense of simplicity and balance are defining elements of Asian art, and I seek to reflect these ideals in my work as well.
Growing up I received 24k gold jewelry as gifts, as is traditional in Chinese culture. As a kid, it seemed gaudy and out of place in southern Indiana– now I love it for it’s warmth, glow, purity, and that exquisite thud it makes when you drop even the tiniest little piece.
Miniature worlds, a snapshot of a river, fruit, or imaginary flower – that’s how I think of the images I make into silver and gold. I like working directly in the metal, fabricating my pieces out of sheet and wire . Sheets of metal are roll-printed with paper or leaves to create subtle textures. I make dies out of brass and plexiglass, which are used in a hydraulic press to form the metal and create dimension. Forging, sawing, filing, sanding, and soldering bring it all together. Darkening the silver with a patina creates contrast to the matte silver and gold, adding to the graphic quality of the pieces and creating a backdrop to the floating elements above.
All of my work is created in a beautiful studio in a big old house that I am renovating with photographer/ sculptor/ painter /creator/ dance-party- partner, Joachim Knill, in Hannibal, Missouri.
|
