FROM 2D TO 3D
THE THOUGHTS BEHIND THE JEWERLY
FROM 2D TO 3D
THE THOUGHTS BEHIND THE JEWERLY
WORKS AND PHOTOGRAPHY PRODUCED BY
CAITLIN SKELCEY GRADUATE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
DESIGNED AND CURATED BY STEPHANIE MAY CARLSON PUBLISHED BY S M CARLSON PRESS CHAMPAIGN 2015
Preface
F
or some reason, a lot of what I do utilizes very traditional material. This is probably because I come from a very traditional background, like a jewelers background, someone who is sitting at the bench and working with gold and diamonds. I didn’t actually go to a trade school, but it was part design, part trade school, part art school. I think it was more of a career school [Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan]. I graduated with a double major in metals and painting, and I still do a lot with both. I’m originally from Saginaw, Michigan. I am interested in bringing in traditional skills, mixing them and finding some sort of harmony between this “old world making,”
“traditional craftsmanship” and “new technology.” So a lot of what I do now uses CAD (computer–aided design), specifically Rhino and 3D printing. One of my aims here is to further this, the work that I did in undergrad, and mesh these two worlds together. I always have felt that I have had one foot in each. This is my first year in grad school at the University of Illinois. My work was made was by creating cast aluminum. If you can imagine, it was 3D printed in two parts, cast in aluminum, welded together so it created the top half, and then cleaned up with set stones into it. There is a big difference in a lot of the things I have been doing recently most-
ly because for the first year in the MFA program you are assigned a material that is
completely the opposite of what you are used to working with, so ended up being assigned a brown microcrystalline wax. For the last few months all I was allowed to do was create samples in wax. The point is that they try to get you out of your habits. This semester I have a little more freedom, so I have been thinking about ways that I can bring wax into 3D printing, 3D modeling and my main interests. Another thing that I’m sure you can see in a lot of my other work is that I’m interested in ways to modify the print; CAD, 3D printing, and 3D modeling for me is used as a tool. It’s another tool to produce an object, and take the object and refine it. For my undergrad work I used car paint, automotive clear coat, airbrushing, a 3D print that is vacuum metallized (similar to the back of an iPod touch—is super slick and mirror-like). Its not an actual metal back, it’s basically vaporized aluminum that gets coated onto a piece of plastic, which gives it an inexpensive metallic feature. My work was basically achieved the same way. I like using different industrial processes in my work, but I, also, like things like comic books and dinosaurs, so those things come through in my work, too. There is an element of science fiction. For this undergrad work specifically, the more bulbous bracelets were specifically looking at or reacting to American consumerism. This jewelry was a reaction to it, like we eat too much and we consume so much in all aspects of our lives. I have very specific things that I was looking at like food, cars, sex, the body, and things that we crave in our culture and see subliminally every day. It’s a series of works that react to or addresse the situation. It is very much taken from biological cues and overlapping fat. Everything is smooth and I love putting pearlescence into forms with the automotive clear coat, to create these fatty or
human biological forms. They can sometimes be repulsive, but still attract the audience to want to touch. So many times I have had someone come up to me say: “Can I touch it? Can I touch it?” That is a tension that I am very conscious of. I also talk about this concept a little more in my essay “Crave.” Recently I did something very scary. I had a white Mobius strip and decided to cut it up (shown on previous spread). It is a scary thing to do, to basically take apart your art and see what is inside. But once I did. Since I knew that the piece was printed in this very Pepto-Bismol pink color, I wondered what it looked like inside. I had an idea so, I thought “well, I can just take it apart, I don’t know that I’m in love with this piece anyway.” At least that was what I told myself. I ended up making all these interesting pieces that look like a cross-section or a cut of something alive, kind of marrow like. It raises a lot of other questions, like “What if jewelry had skeletons?” “If art had a skeleton, what would it be?” “What does everything look like inside?” So now I’m just taking everything apart. I have so many influences, so I don’t feel like I’m just an artist, a designer, a scientist, a researcher, an historian, etc. You have to have many different paths. I grew up in a doctor’s home, so when I was five, I saw a lot of medical books lying around and my parents had skeletons—actual human skeletons—in their basements and all sorts of pictures and horror stories that came home from the ER, so it became a part of me. Even though I am not a doctor and I don’t think in those terms, there are certain things and visual cues that I cannot get away from. Those medical illustrations and crosssections of the human body are just burned in my subconscious.
From 2D to 3D At the end of last semester, I landed on doing a lot of wax encrusted natural forms, such as these awesome ginkgo leaves that we have growing around campus, which are suspended in wax. Wax has such a great history; it was used for things such as preservation. I made a crown that displays this concept. This tradition goes all the way back to the Victorian age, when they would create wax-wedding crowns. They would dip flowers and little orange peels into paraffin wax and model everything into these beautiful crowns. Everything is natural and looks gorgeous. All material has history, so you have to know that history and see what it has been used for in the past. That can also influence your work. Although I was assigned this I enjoy exploring the material. I can adapt to the situation and embrace it.
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Content 1. Artists Statement
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2. How it Starts
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3. Undergraduate Thesis
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4. Influences
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5. Undergraduate Work
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6. Paintings
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7. Graduate Work
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8. Interview with the Artist
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9. Shows She’s Been In
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FROM 2D TO 3D
1 Artist Statement
M
y work is often a reaction to the world around me; things, people, and events manifest themselves through shape and material experimentation, technique, and perseverance. It is driven by exploration of technique and involves elements of both traditional techniques and 3D computer modeling and 3D printing processes. I take what shocks, arouses, inspires, and horrifies in the world and create forms that reflect a distortion of these influences into a thoughtful and compelling body of work. My recent work has been influenced by the objects we as Americans lust after. Touching on themes of materialism, gluttony, and object fetishism, the resulting pieces are a criticism of cultural tendencies for overindulgence, fea-
turing imagery of fat, gemstones, and smooth sleek surfaces. I specifically focused on the aesthetic values of cars, jewelry, sex, food, and technology. An image that has stuck with me in particular is the imagery of fat and the anatomy of the body. Fat, I feel is the prefect metaphor for the state of our culture and is the embodiment of excess and overindulgence. Because of this I was looking to the bulbousness and the creasing of the human body as visual queues. Using this visual vocabulary, my process begins with large rendered, but abstract form study drawings with charcoal and newsprint. On further refinement of these drawings, I then model these pieces using CAD in a computer using 3D modeling software. The pieces
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Caitlin Skelcey Artist Statement
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An interlocking teas infuser made for brewing larger tea batches. The infuser is attached to a hand carved African black wood handle.
STEEP
Sterling Silver, African Blackwood 2009
From 2D to 3D are then printed on a 3D printer in ABS plastic. Using a combination of automotive paint and spray paint I give them their colors, and use airbrushing to give the pieces further depth. They are then finished using an automotive clear coat, and automotive pearlescent, which gives each piece a high gloss shine and glitter. This shine goes back to the source, the idea that we are drawn to things that are new and shiny. In addition to these more modern processes I also use more traditional jewelry methods in my work as well, such as casting, fabrication, and stone setting, which references my source of a lust for beauty in all of its forms. The use of color is an essential part of my process and a means for communicating the content. It is used to represent moods and give deeper meaning; it is used to be reminiscent of fleshy, graphic, human biology as well as a bubble gum pop explosion of glitter and shine. Pinks and blues, paired with a glassy, smooth surface, polished metal, and the brilliance of diamonds, all converge to create a seductive, shimmering, repulsiveness within the work. There is a certain comfort and pleasure that we find from the objects in our lives, we see a part of ourselves in them, we believe that through our things that we communicate to the world who we are. My work has been an exploration of human desire and the things that we crave. It has grown and developed from its source, using both traditional and modern technologies, and some of the very same processes that are used in the making of the objects that inspired this work. The objects I have created have the power to criticize as they take part in our lives, serving as reminders of our own vices in modern culture. They are a reaction to a surrounding culture that has a such a strong connection to objects that we believe they portray to the world who we are, where at
the same time we can throw things away that are outdated or we have lost interest in. We are lost in a seemingly endless cycle of producing waste versus being a system of sustainability, however it is human ingenuity that offers hope that we may eventually disrupt our current cycle in exchange for a new one.
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EARRINGS
Computer rendering 2009
EARRINGS
Computer rendering 2009
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2 How it Starts
PINK #45
Computer rendering 2009
PINK #52
Computer rendering 2009
These turned out to be a series of 12 pins. They are abstractions of the breast cancer symbol. Each pin is meant to represent the stages of grief.
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Caitlin Skelcey How it Starts
CHANNEL RING Rendering 2009
EMILY’S TOPAZ RING Rendering 2010
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From 2D to 3D
DESIRE AND REPULSE Sketch 2010
LOGO INSERT
Computer rendering 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey How it Starts
BIFURCATE DETAILS Sketch 2010
BIFURCATE
Computer rendering 2011
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From 2D to 3D
SIMPLE BRACELET Sketch 2010
SIMPLE BRACELETS Computer rendering 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey How it Starts
FAT #1 Sketch 2010
FAT #1
Computer rendering 2011
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From 2D to 3D
FAT #2 Sketch 2010
FAT #2
Computer rendering 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey How it Starts
STONE BRACELET Sketch 2010
STONE BRACELET Computer rendering 2011
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A bracelet that is part of a larger body of work exploring how traditional ways of making coexist with new materials and technology.
From 2D to 3D
CONTORT II Sketch 2010
CONTORT I & II Computer rendering 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey How it Starts
MOBIUS Sketch 2010
MOBIUS
Computer rendering 2011
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From 2D to 3D
DOUBLE-MOBIUS Sketch 2011
DOUBLE-MOBIUS Computer Rendering 2011
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3 Crave
I
t is easy to be overwhelmed and assaulted by images, especially those telling us what we want. As a culture, we are surrounded by beautiful things, we do not know famine or thirst, and we live in a land of plenty. As a culture we become enamored with beautiful and alluring objects: an iPhone, a Tiffany diamond engagement ring, a new Chevy Camaro, ice cream, or a center-fold girl in a magazine. We desire objects we can connect with, adore, baby, and covet, and then there are objects that are more unremarkable, and simply exist to do a job; a lamp, a coffee maker, a table, or a couch. We as humans are irrational, we often place irrational value on objects, because of this, there are objects that we keep, love, and care for, and
there are others that we discard for the new and beautiful. For my thesis I wanted to create objects with the potential to criticize a culture and act as reminders of our tendencies and behaviors, that can become activated by a wearer. They are inspired by specific objects we love, obsess, and care for, things we in a way- crave, and created using traditional and modern technologies. In researching for this work I was influenced by specific common objects that we find desirable. The first of these ‘objects’ was sex or the human body, it is alluring and is a driving motivator, one of the greatest forms of love, however it is not without the risk of heartbreak or disease. Another is food, which
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Caitlin Skelcey Crave gives us sustenance and it tastes good, but in excess leads to obesity and other health problems. Third is technology, it connects us to the rest of the world, it can inform and entertain but at the same time we become dependent on it and eventually our devices become obsolete. Fourth, are cars, which are beautiful and powerful, however they become automatically dated, depreciate in value, and degrade our planet. And lastly, jewelry and diamonds, they last forever, they are rare and valuable, diamonds and rings are symbols of love and commitment, but at the same time however the search for them creates war and pollution. A specific image that has stuck with me in my work has been the imagery of fat and the anatomy of the body. Fat, I feel is the prefect metaphor for the state of our culture and is the embodiment of excess and overindulgence. Because of this I was looking to the bulbous-ness and the creasing of the human body as visual queues in designing the work. When it came to making these pieces, my process began with large, oversized sketches and drawings. I originally thought that these pieces would be oversized and cumbersome to wear, perhaps like a weight or shackle. I imagined that these pieces might hurt the wearer, with the idea in mind that ‘Too much of anything is a bad thing’ which relates to my source; that overindulgence of the things we love can hurt us. With this in mind, many of these earlier sketches had blade-like edges. However, it was a very uncomfortable relationship with these early concepts, the drawings were more engaging than the actual piece might be, and in general it felt very forced, and I wasn’t happy with the direction the pieces were going. I was also concerned that I might have enough time to make all the pieces at the scale they were in the allotted time. These fears were actualized when I made my red bracelet; which was huge,
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red, and awkward, and took too long to make. While the piece looked engaging as a drawing, it was not as appealing as an actual piece of jewelry. It was at this point that I wasn’t happy with the direction of the project and felt that the pieces as well as the concept needed to be modified. On revision of the concept, I allowed the final pieces to grow and abstract from its source, and the resulting finalized concepts for the pieces were much cleaner, simplistic, and felt more natural and less forced. Also in the revised pieces, I used the Mobius form, which I admire for its complex simplicity in its aesthetic, but also for its symbolism as the eternal internal transformation, an unending cycle, and which noncoincidentally is the international symbol for recycling, which relates directly back to my concept of cultural waste. I feel that these alterations were a great improvement compared to my initial pieces, which as larger more awkward pieces, held too close to the source, whereas the new pieces were smaller, more manageable, and abstracted from, but still in the spirit of its source. For creating these pieces I used CAD to model them in a computer using Rhino, a 3D modeling program. More specifically, for a majority of the pieces I used a plug-in for Rhino called T-Splines, which allowed me achieve extremely organic forms much easier than using regular Rhino, and was especially useful when it came to complex surface modeling. When the modeling was finished, the pieces were then printed on various 3D printers, such as Dimension and Perfactory, in materials such as ABS plastic and a UV sensitive photo polymer. When the pieces were finished printing and desupported I began the painting process. I chose the colors pink and blue for this work because while they are very soft colors, they are biological and are reminiscent of flesh tones in and on a body.
From 2D to 3D And while they are very odd pairing of colors, they are also weirdly seductive, but repulsive at the same time, which I think creates a weird tension in them. Using a combination of automotive paint and spray paint I gave them these colors, and used airbrushing to give the pieces further depth. They were then finished using many layers of automotive clear coat, some of which contained additives like pearls or pigment for further depth, and gives each piece a high gloss shine. I wanted a high shine because it goes back to the source; the idea that we are drawn to things that are new and shiny, it makes the pieces more seductive, making them something people want to touch and hold. While this process was my main method of working I also wanted to utilize more traditional processes, such as casting and stone setting. For one of my bracelets, part of the piece was cast in aluminum in two parts, welded together, and cleaned to make up half the bracelet. I took this and then almost completely pavéd the surface of the piece with upwards of 500 CZ stones. This piece was directly inspired by large jewelry companies, such as Tiffany’s or Cartier, who are traditionally known for extravagant, expensive, diamond pieces. This bracelet was by far the most time consuming of all the pieces in this collection, but was worth the effort. Another process that I used in this work that I felt was appropriate was the use of vacuum metallizing. It was through this method that I was able to get an inexpensive ‘chrome’ finish on some select pieces of work. I chose to use this process because it references the chrome accents on cars, and is used in the automotive industry for that very purpose, and is also commonly used on electronics for aesthetics. While there is not a yet solution for the tendencies to always want the newest things, and to throw away the out of date, I think that
part of that solution is practicality and better design. Designers have often addressed and have tried to rise to the challenge of making something sustainable. But it is also equally important for a consumer to be aware, and mostly to want something sustainable, to want something that would ideally last forever, or if not meant to last forever than for it to be biodegradable. But in an ideal world the ultimate solution would be for a consumer to just stop consuming, of course this would never happen. In light of this, I realize that the pieces I have created are not the best example of something physically practical or sustainable. In all reality, if these pieces were thrown away tomorrow they would take thousands of years to in any way degrade. But where a diamond ring is meant to simply be beautiful and adorn the body as a symbol of love, my pieces as jewelry are both beautiful and carry another kind of message; while they themselves are not practical, they act as reminders for the wearer to live practically especially in a world where there are so many seductive things and we feel the need to own the newest ones. There is a certain comfort and pleasure that we find from the objects in our lives, we see a part of ourselves in them, we believe that through our things that we communicate to the world who we are. My work has been an exploration of human desire and the things that we crave. These pieces have gone through many revisions, growing from forms that were large and awkward as well as too literal, to forms with a simple complexity. They have grown and developed from their source, using both traditional and modern technologies, and some of the very same processes that are used in the making of the objects that inspired this work. These pieces are more conceptual and while they may not necessarily be functional as everyday pieces of jewelry, they carry a mes-
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Caitlin Skelcey Crave
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PINK #46 ABS plastic 2009
From 2D to 3D sage. The objects I have created have the power to criticize as they take part in our lives, serving as reminders of our own vices in modern culture. They are a reaction to a surrounding culture that has a such a strong connection to objects that we believe they portray to the world who we are, where at the same time we can throw things away that are outdated or we have lost interest in. We are lost in a seemingly endless cycle of producing waste versus being a system of sustainability, however it is human ingenuity that offers hope that we may eventually disrupt our current cycle in exchange for a new one.
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4 Influences
C
aitlin Skelcey is influenced by many things. She has been influenced by her parents, her surroundings, etc, but when asked what her influences are, she stated that she is somewhat of a “nerd” who really likes comic books, dinosaurs, anatomy, sleek finishes, and some artists, such as Scott Hove and Mark Ryden. She loves the idea of experiencing the world through touch. That is part of why she uses an automotive finish in her earlier work. She wants people to have the same desire as she does, the desire to pick up her work and want to hold it, move it, and feel its texture. When people see something smooth and shiny they generally want to touch it. Who does not walk by a new car and want
to feel its slick paint job that has not been worn with age. Skelcey grew up in a household full of doctors. This means that at an early age she was exposed to the human skeleton, the way the body works, and some stories that her parents would bring home from the hospital. When one is a child, that person are very impressionable. This means that these experiences would have affected her in some way. She became very comfortable with these types of subjects which later was proven through her art work. Her take on finding other artists that inspire her is “I know that you find inspiration from other artists and there’s always other artists that you wish your stuff could be as good as, but I feel like if I pay attention to
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Caitlin Skelcey Influences
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TETRA
From 2D to 3D those people too much, I get overwhelmed and I can’t think about anything else. A lot of the time what I have to do is close the door to my studio and close myself off, because, when I get too overwhelmed with thinking about everybody else’s things and wishing I was this or that, I black out who I am.” She goes more in depth about this later on in an interview that was taken February 3, 2015. Caitlin enjoys reading magazines, such as Juxtapoz and Hi Fructose. Juxtapoz Magazine is a monthly magazine devoted to providing coverage of the most dynamic, unconventional, and innovative art produced today. It was a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (aka: Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric Swenson to both help define and celebrate urban alternative and underground contemporary art. Juxtapoz is published by High Speed Productions, the same company that publishes Thrasher, a skateboard magazine in San Francisco, California. Hi-Fructose is a quarterly print art magazine, founded by artists, Attaboy and Annie Owens in 2005. Hi-Fructose focuses squarely on the art which transcends genre and trend, assuring readers thorough coverage and content that is informative and original. HiFructose showcases an amalgamation of new contemporary, emerging as well distinguished artists, with a spotlight on awe inspiring spectacles from round the world.
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TWIST TORQUE
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat, Aluminum 2010
5 Undergraduate Work
DOUBLE MOBIUS
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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FAT #1
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2011
From 2D to 3D
FAT #2
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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SET
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat, Vacuum metalized Aluminum 2011
From 2D to 3D
STONE BRACELET
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat, Vacuum metalized aluminum, Cubic zirconia 2011
This piece was set with over 500+ cubic zirconia.
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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CONTORT II
Polychromed ABS 2011
From 2D to 3D
CONTORT II
Polychromed ABS 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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BIFURCATE
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat, Vacuum metalized Aluminum 2011
From 2D to 3D
BIFURCATE-DETAIL
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat, Vacuum metalized Aluminum 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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MOBIUS
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2011
From 2D to 3D
MOBIUS
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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SIMPLE BRACELETS
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2011
From 2D to 3D
SIMPLE BRACELET
ABS plastic, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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TRILION
14k White gold, Cubic zirconia, Diamonds 2009
From 2D to 3D
COPIER ENGAGEMENT RING
14k White gold, Green quartz, Diamonds 2011
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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IVY HAIRPIECE 2007
From 2D to 3D
FLW RING 2009
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Caitlin Skelcey Ungergraduate Work
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The ring was symbolic of the honey product the bee gives us and what we often associate with bees.
HIVE RING Silver 2008
From 2D to 3D
STRAWBERRY BRACELET Silver 2008
This bracelet is associated with fruit, the strawberry in particular, through color and form. This is something that the honeybee brings to us.
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RIVERSIDE PARK Oil Paint 2009 Painted in open air
6 Paintings
MEIJER GARDENS Oil Paint 2009 Painted in open air
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Caitlin Skelcey Paintings
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MOM WITH SEBASTIAN Oil Paint 2010
From 2D to 3D
UNTITLED Oil Paint 2010
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Caitlin Skelcey Paintings
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UNTITLED Oil Paint 2010
From 2D to 3D
PEARLS Oil Paint 2010
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WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax, Mixed media 2014
7 Graduate Work
STUDIO 2014
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Caitlin Skelcey Graduate Work
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WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax 2014
From 2D to 3D
WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax, Mixed media 2014
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Caitlin Skelcey Graduate Work
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WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax, Mixed media 2014
From 2D to 3D
WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax, Dinosaur 2014
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Caitlin Skelcey Graduate Work
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WAX STUDY Paraffin wax 2014
From 2D to 3D
WAX STUDY
Paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax 2014
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Caitlin Skelcey Graduate Work
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WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax, Gold paint 2014
From 2D to 3D
WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax, Mixed media 2014
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Caitlin Skelcey Graduate Work
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WAX STUDY
Brown Microcrystalline wax, Screws 2014
From 2D to 3D
WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax, Mixed media 2014
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Caitlin Skelcey Graduate Work
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WAX STUDY
Brown microcrystalline wax, Paraffin wax 2014
From 2D to 3D
BILOBA
Brown microcrystalline wax, Paraffin wax, Ginko leaves 2014
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Caitlin Skelcey Graduate Work
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GROWTH–WAX STUDY Brown microcrystalline wax 2014
From 2D to 3D
COBANGLE
Collaboration between Caitlin Skelcey, Phil Renato and Natalie Beasly ABS plastic, Clearcoat 2014
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Caitlin Skelcey Graduate Work
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EXPEL
Collaboration between Caitlin Skelcey and metalsmith Tom Muir ABS plastic, Sterling silver, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2015
From 2D to 3D
MORPH
Collaboration between Caitlin Skelcey and metalsmith Tom Muir ABS plastic, Sterling silver, Automotive paint, Clearcoat 2015
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8 Interview with the Artist
I think of myself as a very laid back person so sometimes I am either too specific or too vague, so I often don’t get my point across. Where are you from?
I am originally from Saginaw, Michigan, but I consider my Michigan residence to be in Grand Rapids, which is on the other side of the state. That is where I went to undergrad, at Kendall College of Art and Design. I got a double major there, so I have a BFA in painting and a BFA in metals and jewelry design.
What year are you in grad school?
I am in my first year, so the fall of 2014 was the start of my first year. I graduated Kendall in 2011.
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Caitlin Skelcey Interview with the Artist What made you decide to go into Jewelry/Metals?
It wasn’t an intentional decision. It eventually became one, but I did not specifically go to school for metals and jewelry. I knew I wanted to go into art, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do in it, whether I wanted to be a painter, a drawing major, or go into industrial design, which is one of my other interests. When I started, I took a bunch of classes, one of them being an introduction to metals, and, actually, even after I took that I wasn’t sure. But I liked it. So I took casting. Eventually I made it my major and just went with it. And eventually I declared a double major in painting.
Did you consider other professions?
I did. There is my second major, but if I was to pick a second major now, I probably would just choose industrial design, because I find that a lot of my work walks that line between design and art. I suppose that’s why I went to grad school, to find out, to develop my work further conceptually, but also to find out where it belongs in the world of jewelry, too.
What’s your general process when starting a new project?
My general process begins with a lot of drawing. This is where my formal skills come into play. They are like fine art drawings— charcoal and sketching. I start with that and do about ten variations of one thing. I will eventually find parts of a piece or a full drawing that I like and then begin modeling it in CAD. Typically, I use Rhino and then will completely model and print it using 3D printing, typically an FDM machine (fuse deposition modeling), and it will usually be in ABS plastic. Then I will sometimes use spray paint or an automotive paint to give it color, shine and iridescence. That had been my process. However, since I am in grad school, and because it is always good as an artist try to expand your material knowledge, I have been trying to experiment with other ways of making as well, so I have been doing a lot of wax.
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From 2D to 3D I have also been trying to work that in with 3D printing and modeling. What are some of your favorite artists and how have they influenced your work?
There are other things that influence my art. I look a lot at finishes of objects so cars are attractive to me, not only the finishes but the forms as well. I have this habit perhaps other artists share, where I always have to touch things. We experience so much of our world through touching, especially for me if it’s shiny. Part of me taking in the world is through how things feel. My work is something that I personally want to hold and touch and I think, because of that, other people must share that tendency with me. Because most of the time in my art, people want to touch it right away. A lot of the time what I have to do is close the door to my studio and close myself off, because when I get too overwhelmed with thinking about everybody else’s work, and wishing I was this or that, I black out who I am. But there are some artists that I love. One of them is Scott Hove. He has the same aesthetic as me but he works differently. He is a sculptor in San Francisco, and I was very excited because he friended me on Facebook! He makes this work that was featured in one of my favorite magazines, Hi Fructose. Another one of my favorite magazines is Juxtapoz. Hi Fructose is like pop surrealism. If I were influenced by a current genre, this would be it. They have all of these great artists in this magazine. Like Mark Ryden. But he does very weird work. Michael Hussar does kind of scary work. Maybe I just like people who work in pink because I work in pink. There is also A.J. Fosik, who does these made-up wooden animal heads. I want to say that I am very drawn
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Caitlin Skelcey Interview with the Artist to things that have an edge of grossness. And there is something repulsive about it but also very beautiful. But back to Scott Hove. He does these wonderful sculptures using elements of taxidermy and cake decorating. He makes these really odd forms using fake animal jaws and horns. He makes these beautiful cake decorations around that. It is again the same themes that I look for in my work; there are threatening or grotesque elements mixed with something very pretty or glittery, and you want to consume it. I am drawn to weird but beautiful things. What some of the themes behind your pieces?
Overall, my work deals with trying to bring together two different worlds that often, or at least most recently in the craft world, seem to have a bit of a barrier between: new materials and new ways of making, such as CAD and 3D printing; and the old technologies, such as traditional metalsmithing, or bench jewelery processes, such as stone setting or casting. Usually these processes exist by themselves, especially when it comes to old and new. There has been some progress towards this, but I want to harmoniously bring these worlds together and that seems to always be the goal of everything I do—because I come from both worlds. I come from a traditional world and I also come from the new technology, new ways of making, and new ways of thinking about making, and I want to bring these things together. That’s something I am always thinking about.
What sparked your interest in relating your work to medicine and anatomy?
Because my mom was a doctor, internal medicine and the human anatomy has never been something that I was skittish around. While it is an interest of mine, it seems to have been more subliminal—or it must have just im-
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From 2D to 3D printed on my mind—because it seems like no matter what, I’m always making things that look like intestines or a colon or some sort of internal biology. I guess it just goes back to me being attracted to natural forms. I sometimes want to get away from that but it’s just really hard to get away from what you’re attracted to. That’s how I feel about anatomy. I’ll tell you a story. I had back surgery twelve years ago and I had scoliosis. This meant my back was basically “S” curved. I had to have pins put in it and I actually asked the doctor if there was a videotape of it, because I not only am interested in how things work, but how things are put together, including the body. For me, I would say, “I want to see what is inside me.” Of course, everyone else said, “That’s really weird Caitlin, don’t talk about that.” How much time do you spend in the studio?
It’s a job, especially in grad school, so I am on average here from 10:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night, every day, including the weekends. Sometimes I take a late morning on the weekends, but I am here to do this. This is my whole life. Maybe I have a class I teach or an extra class that I am taking, but that is only a few hours of my time each week. I am here for my work and I am here to expand my mind. I am, also, in the habit of getting up and getting ready to go here every morning. Because I am here to do this, I wake up every day and think, “What else is there to do? What else should I do?” Of course I am going to go to the studio. Its so second-nature now.
What materials have you been working on this year?
I have probably over 200 different samples of ways of using and manipulating microcrystalline wax. I expanded this to soy wax and paraffin wax, and combining them, so I have been feeling very “mad-sciency” lately. This semester I am branching out even more by bringing
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Caitlin Skelcey Interview with the Artist this wax and what I have learned from it into my normal processes of making. I am thinking of how I can use wax in conjunction with 3D printing and what that changes about what I am say with my pieces. How can they exist within the same piece? When they do exist, what does that say? That’s what I am currently exploring. Do you think that when you no longer have to work with wax that you will go back to working with your normal 3D printing?
I don’t know. I am always open to material experimentation anyway, so it really just depends how this semester goes and how I can integrate it. Through the samples I did last semester there are definitely a good handful that have the effect that I want, where I think I can use it. I won’t know the exact answer to that question until after this semester, though.
Do you think your pieces are meant to be worn or displayed?
I would say both. It says one thing to be worn and another just sitting on a shelf, but ideally I intend it as jewelry; it’s a wearable piece of art. I make them to be worn. That is their first function.
Do you have favorite pieces of your work?
There are some I love that others do not, and there are some others love that I do not.
Do you name your pieces?
I get more creative with some than others.
In “Crave,” you state, “Fat, I feel is the perfect metaphor for the state of our culture and is the embodiment of excess and overindulgence.” What about fat were you so drawn to or inspired by to create an entire series?
When I was doing these pieces and one it kind of goes back to that anatomical fascination that I have but its also that in putting together this conceptual idea I was studying overindulgence in the American culture. You can eat and eat in this American way, and it was really just a critique of that. I could bring in that visual language and create these pieces. This concept can be so indulgent, which is awesome because we can have everything and want everything and capitalism but at the same time how terrible is that too and so that brings forth a lot of visual language on this notion of fat, especially
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From 2D to 3D in the texture that I give it because it is something that is not good but is something that is so pretty, shiny, and glittery. It creates that visual tension that embodies that concept. What is your plan after graduate school?
There is not a plan right now. Well, okay, so there are a few thoughts. Education is an interesting thing. I could pursue teaching at a grad level, perhaps, but looking at it right now, I just want to make things. I have to think about where I am happiest. If I could just do anything I would have a studio and I would make whatever I wanted. That’s what I decided so after everything, regardless of expectations, I just want to sit in a spot and make something that is interesting or thought provoking. It doesn’t really matter where I am. It matters that I have something to support this.
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9 Shows and Exhibitions ADORNED SPACES Pop Up Exhibit in conjunction with SNAG annual conference, May 20–23, Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Boston, MA.
2015
Rapid Conference, Contemporary Art Gallery, The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), May 18–21, Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA.
2015
IMPACT April 17–May 23, Brookline Art Center, MA.
2015
EMERGENCE: NEW QUESTIONS IN CRAFT AND OBJECT MAKING March 12–24, Hosted by the Guild of Emerging Metalsmiths, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC.
2015
MATERIALS: HARD AND SOFT Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, TX.
2014
MAKING IT REAL SNAG–OCAD, Toronto, Canada.
2013
Silver Michigan Silversmiths, College of Creative Studies, Detroit, MI.
2013
TEDx Labs CADlabORATION Exhibit, KCAD, Grand Rapids, MI.
2012
“Crave” Thesis Exhibition, Annual Student Exhibition, KCAD, Grand Rapids, MI.
2011
Bodies of Art Fashion Show
2009
Bodies of Art Fashion Show
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Colophon Typography
Titles and other headings are set in various weights and sizes of Futura, while the body text is set in 10 pt Chaparral Pro. Images courtesy of Caitlin Skelcey. Crave was written by Caitlin Skelcey in 2011 and the interview with her was done in 2015 by Elyce Heffez and Stephanie Carlson.
Printed by Lance Dixon at Dixon Graphics. Sewn hardcover binding by Christopher Hohn and Tendra Ashley-Wannemuehler at Lincoln Bookbindery. Softcover perfect binding by Sue Steinfeldt at the Illini Union Bookstore.
Designer
This book was designed and curated at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Stephanie Carlson under the advisement of Matthew Peterson. This was done in the Spring of 2015.
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank Caitlin Skelcey for her participation, as well as Lance Dixon, Christopher Hohn, Tendra Ashley-Wannemuehler, and Sue Steinfeldt who helped put this book together. All Art work copyright Š Caitlin Skelcey. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without permission.