ARTIST STATEMENT

My work is the result of my continuing search to give meaning to seemingly mundane yet important human interactions. I am attempting to call attention to and create a sense of importance to obscure and sometimes personal emotions and circumstances. The ephemera of life are what drive the work. I want to capture a fleeting moment of discovery and realization. Responding to the world around me I develop narratives, which are influenced by memories. These concepts along with intentional visual stimuli bring past experiences into tangible forms. I represent these ideas utilizing the techniques and history of metalsmithing. My work is a combination of perfectly executed traditional techniques within a contemporary conceptual context. I make art for myself but I want people to be able to sympathize with my ideas, concepts and stories. The viewer is to consider the preciousness I present to them.

I am interested in a cross-disciplinary approach to making with a seamless incorporation of various media. The work is primarily sterling silver in combination with found or natural objects encased as if they are jewels. Encased objects, especially in glass allow me to use delicate elements in my work. The glass ampules I create provide me with more layers of information and enhance my creative expression. Vials set within precious environments are a deliberate reference to historical reliquaries. I describe my reliquaries as vignettes of memory, beauty, and personal observations. Combining both precious and natural or fragile materials I am challenging their intrinsic value. I am also subverting the conventional idea of preciousness and the objects or ideas that society deems valuable. I select specimens and invite or encourage the viewer to scrutinize and appreciate. I make my work appealing to attract the viewer and then the details and minutia forces them to look closer. My intention is to bring about a moment of awe and contemplation about the object or concept.

Angela Bubash was born and raised in Pennsylvania. She has been metalsmithing for fourteen years and recently finished a three year residency at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. She spends her time creating in her studio and teaching at Appalachian State University (NC).

Her work is primarily sterling silver in combination with found or natural objects encased as if they are jewels. Objects in glass vials are a deliberate reference to historical reliquaries. She describes her reliquaries as vignettes of memory, beauty, and personal observations. The work is a combination of perfectly executed traditional techniques within a contemporary conceptual context.

She attained a BFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and a MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She has received various grants and awards including a North Carolina Regional Artist Project Grant, Women's Jewelry Association scholarship, Ruth Chenven Foundation grant, and a Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation grant. Her work has been exhibited nationwide including venues at Sculpture to Wear (CA), Mobilia Gallery (MA), Blue Heron Gallery (ME), Lemoyne Gallery (FL), Mesa Contemporary Arts (AZ), The Cultural Arts Center (OH), Lancaster Museum of Art (PA), Folk Art Center (NC), Signature Shop & Gallery (GA), Quirk (VA), SOFA Chicago, and SOFA New York. She has work in the permanent collection of the MountainMade Foundation (WV) and in many private collections. She is represented by Penland Gallery (NC), Quirk (VA), and Mobilia Gallery (MA). Her work has been published in The Art and Craft of Making Jewelry (Lark), 500 Earrings (Lark), 500 Metal Vessels (Lark) and Metalsmith Magazine Exhibition in Print. She has taught at Penland School of Crafts (NC), MountainMade Foundation (WV), and Arrowmont (TN). .................................................................................................................................... Upcoming Workshops:

May 16-18, 2008 Touchstone (PA), The Contemporary Reliquary

            www.touchstonecrafts.com/metalsm-jewel-des.htm

August 1-3 2008, Society for Contemporary Crafts (PA), Windows & Frames (inventive settings)

            www.contemporarycraft.org/pdf/summer2008.pdf