Metalsmith Benchtalk with Mixed Metals Jewelry Artist and Metalsmith Pam Caidin

Our guest on Metalsmith Benchtalk on Thursday, September 24th, 2015 at 3:00 pm PST is mixed metals jewelry artist and metalsmith Pam Caidin. 

Join us for this LIVE interview and participate by logging onto the chatroom at Blogtalkradio.com or by sending a message to Whaley Studios via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. 

Artist Statement: 

My work is always evolving. What does stay constant are two things. One is my desire for simplified, elemental, almost primordial form; leaves, pebbles, diatoms, planets. The second is my fascination with pattern. Found in nature or man-made, I mostly find them to be one and the same. "Etching" is my current body of work:

All matter and energy in the universe are governed by the same natural forces. Patterns are a visible manifestation of these forces. Trees, ice crystals, capillaries, all share the same dendritic growth pattern. The optic nerve takes the same radial form as the rays of the sun, or the dandelion. Animate or inanimate, growth or decay, everything follows the same organizing principles.

My work is an interpretation of these patterns in metal. I make drawings based on found images, then photoetch those drawings into copper and nickel silver, letting the acid eat all the way through the metal, until what remains is a lacy replica of the original drawing. This pattern is overlayed onto fine silver by soldering the two metals together, then rolled in a rolling mill to imbed the etching into the silver. This overlayed piece is then used as an element in a hand fabricated hollow form.

http://www.pamcaidin.com