Skip to main content
Contemporary Craft
  • Discussion
  • Opportunities
  • Donate
  • Exhibitions
    • Browse Exhibitions
    • Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize
    • Fiberart International
    • About Our Galleries
  • Studio
    • About the Studio
    • Upcoming Workshops
    • Weave-a-Thon
    • Studio Rental
    • Group Programs
    • Student and School Programs
    • Community Engagement
    • Affinity Groups
  • Artists-in-Residence
    • National Artists-in-Residence
    • Regional Artists-in-Residence
  • Store
  • About
    • Defining Craft
    • Mission
    • Lawrenceville Space
    • Accessibility
    • History
    • Staff and Board
    • Annual Report
    • Privacy Policy
    • Rent Our Space
  • News & Events
    • Calendar
    • Press Releases
    • In the News
  • Visit or Contact Us
Contemporary Craft
  • Discussion
  • Opportunities
  • Donate
  • Menu

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

January 13, 2023 - March 11, 2023

Jessica Calderwood
Artist Statement

Trained as an enamellist first and foremost, I am interested in using traditional craft media, both for their creative properties, as well as their historical references to ‘marginal art forms’, including enamel, fiber, and glass beads. These materials are important to my work, both for their visual sensuality and their references to the labor of craft.

My current work uses forms, such as drapery and stylized botanicals, to block out, cover, and hide parts of the human form. It becomes a negation, a censoring, or denial of what lies beneath. These anthropomorphic beings appear at once, powerful and powerless, beautiful and absurd, inflated, and amputated. Working in a miniature scale can allow the viewer to access the work with empathy, but also with dominance.
​
While working on this series, I began a parallel grouping of works revolving around interpretations of textile patterns by meticulously arranging and firing glass seed beads on an enameled surface. The melting of the beads permanently fuses the pattern but also encourages distortions. The creation of repetitive patterns is a meditative process, born out of the need to create order from chaos.

January 13, 2023 - March 11, 2023

Gerri Kay Exhibition Cases

Main Lawrenceville Gallery
5645 Butler Street

  • Exhibition Overview
  • Artist Profiles
  • Community Partners

5645 Butler Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201 USA

Phone: 412.261.7003

Email: info@contemporarycraft.org

Mon-Sat: 10 AM - 5 PM
Sun: CLOSED

Directions
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Instagram

Sign Up for Our Email Updates

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2025 Contemporary Craft. All rights reserved.

Website by Imagebox

  • Discussion
  • Opportunities
  • Donate
  • Menu
  • Exhibitions
    • Browse Exhibitions
    • Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize
    • Fiberart International
    • About Our Galleries
  • Studio
    • About the Studio
    • Upcoming Workshops
    • Weave-a-Thon
    • Studio Rental
    • Group Programs
    • Student and School Programs
    • Community Engagement
    • Affinity Groups
  • Artists-in-Residence
    • National Artists-in-Residence
    • Regional Artists-in-Residence
  • Store
  • About
    • Defining Craft
    • Mission
    • Lawrenceville Space
    • Accessibility
    • History
    • Staff and Board
    • Annual Report
    • Privacy Policy
    • Rent Our Space
  • News & Events
    • Calendar
    • Press Releases
    • In the News
  • Visit or Contact Us

Sign Up for Our E-Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.