Sunday, September 22, 2013

Candice Wakumoto Trunk Show at Allegory Gallery...

Allegory Gallery is pleased to announce a limited-time trunk show with Hawaii-based artist, Candice Wakumoto.  Candice is an award-winning and published jewelry artist. (She was most recently published in the beautiful, coffee-table book: Showcase 500 Art Necklaces.)  She creates unique, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces that are simply amazing.  I think one of the things that makes Candice's work really special is that she loves beads and has been collecting them for over a decade; she travels the world to attend some of the most prestigious shows and has a unrivaled collection.  As a result, the statement pieces she makes incorporate finds that are extremely rare, like gemstones from mines that have been closed for years or from artisan bead makers who have retired or are no longer with us.  She also carves, casts and creates her own metal findings, charms, and components in bronze and sterling silver. Some of the focal pieces of her jewelry are made out of Precious Metal Clay, which is 99.9% pure silver with 24k gold accents.

The PMC process starts with a product that was originally created in Japan by Mitsubishi.  It's pure silver powder that has been mixed with an organic binder.  Working with it is kind of like working with porcelain or a ceramic clay body.  Once the piece is completely dry, it is fired in a kiln at 1650 F for over two hours.  During this time, the organic binder burns off and leaves only the metal.  At the high temperatures, the metal sinters (which basically means the metal particles fuse together) creating a solid piece of metal.  Candice has won several industry awards for her PMC creations, including the Saul Bell Design Award for her Asian-influenced hollow forms.

Even if you're not in the market for high-end artisan jewelry, you should definitely stop by to see the pieces.  They're really a visual treat AND this is one of the only places in the mainland USA that you can see such a large assembly of her work!

The trunk show is one week only!  Her pieces will be on display and available for purchase from September 24th to October 1st.  (Also, if you have your eye on one of the pieces that is currently featured in the shop, several of them will be returning to Hawaii at the end of the show!  So get it before it goes away!)

No comments: