Vakseen

Basked in the Glory

2020

Tierra, 2020

Kierstin Young's (US based) "Tierra" is an acrylic and oil painting depicting a Comet Moth and it's yellow and red designs Artist Statement/Bio: (b. The Year of the Rabbit) Kierstin's life began by almost never beginning at all. A car accident occurred while Kierstin’s mother was pregnant with her. The doctors advised against continuing the pregnancy for fear that Kierstin would be born without limbs or even blind. Her parents decided against it, and Kierstin was born a healthy child. This story was relayed to her as a child as a reminder of how serendipitous her life was. Kierstin was always filled with an overflowing energy and creativity. This led her on many diverse paths in life. Her many areas of focus included psychology, poetry, photography, mountaineering, religious studies, music, playing ice hockey, spelunking and pretending to be an astronaut. She grew up between two places; the first was a house built on Native American burial grounds in rural New Jersey. The second was a summer home in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of New York. For the first sixteen years of her life, she was home taught by an assortment of sane and insane people. Her junior year she began the strange new adventure of going to school. She was most likely the only 16 year old in the world to be that ecstatic about riding a school bus, because it was for the first time in her life. It was there in public school, that her art teachers really encouraged her to pursue her love of art. Hopes were high for going to art school, but Kierstin found herself forbidden from even applying by her parents. She applied anyway. Upon getting rejected from prestigious art schools such as RISD and Parsons, Kierstin decided to attend duCret school of Art. Being rejected turned out to be a serendipitous turn of events for Kierstin once again. It was there at duCret that she met Timothy Jahn and began studying in his Academy duCret and subsequently Jahn Studios. This lead her to continue her education at the Ani Art Academy under the direction of Anthony Waichulis.

Ann Parkin’s current work is an exploration of new possibilities in technique and materials, as well as the expression of a new imagery for art jewelry. Historically, art and particularly craft, have been vehicles for the symbols, images and visual metaphors of society’s current view of its world and the “nature” of which it finds itself a part. Discoveries and techniques at the leading edge of science have given us astounding views of new levels of nature and reality and have provided opportunities for the development of a new set of imagery and symbols for our time. Parkin’s work has been inspired by the vast visual potential of such scientific areas as electron microscopy, nuclear imaging, “Chaos” physics, and particularly subatomic particle physics. The graphic imagery of Parkin’s current work is not, in the traditional sense, abstract but rather is a representational view of nature that we are among the first generations to see. The images of the Particle Shower series are based upon the visual records of subatomic particle physics, which show the tracks left by subatomic particles as they pass through the bubble and cloud chambers once used by nuclear physicists. Parkin reflects that, “It has been said that Science is the Religion of the modern age. If that is even in part true, then it points the way to an exciting new approach to ornamentation and imagery that goes beyond the commonly observable surface reality to re-establish the fundamental role of art/craft - the articulation and expression of underlying patterns of the natural order as an integral aspect of our created personal environment.” Born in Toronto, Canada in 1956, Ann Parkin received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from New York University in 1978 and a Gemological Diploma from the Gemological Association of Great Britain in 1987. She studied metalwork, jewelry and enameling at the 92nd Street Y in New York City with renowned jewelry artists Robert Ebendorf, Rebekah Laskin, Charles Lewton-Brain and John Cogswell. Parkin’s work has appeared in group exhibitions, and as a featured artist, at Aaron Faber Gallery, NYC; Oms Gallery, NJ; Objects of Desire, Louisville, KY; Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA; Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA; New Jersey Designer Craftsmen Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ; Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, TX; Artist-Craftsmen of New York, NYC; Crafts National 26, Penn State University, PA; The Farrell Collection, Washington, DC; Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, OR; Views Gallery, Manayunk, PA; Sculpture to Wear, Los Angeles, CA; Craft Students League, NYC; Joan Michlin...

Ann Parkin’s current work is an exploration of new possibilities in technique and materials, as well as the expression of a new imagery for art jewelry. Historically, art and partic...