2016 MAG – Revere Academy Scholarship Winner

A huge thank you to each of the artists that entered the the 2016 Metal Arts Guild – Revere Academy Scholarship on behalf of the jurors Alan Revere, Michael David Sturlin, and myself. We received a very impressive group of applications for this new contest, which made for a very difficult decision!

The Metal Arts Guild would also like to thank the Revere Academy for their generosity and partnership on this great opportunity for our members! The Revere Academy made a surprise decision to award individual gift certificates to each of the remaining applicants to use towards enrolling in their desired class. MAG is grateful for the unexpected and very generous gesture! I look forward to hearing about how great everyone’s experience is with the new techniques they learn in class.

Without further ado, the 2016 winner is Hsinyu Chu! The jurors felt that the work she entered showed technical skill, originality, cohesiveness, and both the artist statement and essay answer were clear.

CHU_HSINYU

Untitled, 2016, sterling silver, copper, enamel, 3.25” x 3.25” x 1.75” photo: Alex Justimbaste

CHU_HSINYU

Contrast, Cycles and Complement, 2015, porcelain, ebony, sterling silver, bi-metal(14 karat gold), 10’’x 5’’

Statement

In my childhood, I was profoundly influenced by my dad, who was a passionate Feng-Shui consultant. He was often going to people’s home and instructing them about where to place different rooms and furniture so that this placement would accord with the magnetic fields and bring such people luck and balance. He emphasized the five elements (wood, fire, earth, gold, water) and would explain that a bathroom (representing water) and a kitchen (representing fire) should not be placed directly next to one another as they are conflicting forces. Having been so exposed to such ideas, I become increasingly interested in the idea of complementarity, of Yin-Yang. I believe that opposites are profoundly important as they both help us to see and allow us balance. For instance, we understand and see light precisely because darkness also exists. In life, we are led to seek harmony among a series of opposing forces.

I wish to create designs that convey light and shadow as opposites and as complementary forces. My work also explores cycles, movement and balance. Some pieces are made in a pair represented as binary opposites. Circular shapes, repetitive domes symbolize cycles, union and the complementarity of two elements.

CHU_HSINYU

Balance, 2015, porcelain, sterling silver, plastic, LED lights, 3.75” x 14.5” x 2”

CHU_HSINYU

Yin_Yang 1, 2014, Sterling silver Wood(Walnut, Maple), 8mm faced Tourmalinated quartz ,8mm faced Rutilated quartz, Magnets, 1.5” x 2.5”x1.5”

CHU_HSINYU

Yin_Yang 2, 2014, sterling silver, copper, steel wire, wood, 5’’x 5”x 1.5”

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