VIRTUAL PUBLIC LECTURE

Zoom Lecture, Registration Required:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMld-2opjgpGNYZUAXhyjy3zezhGmSCCZ5k

Marilyn da Silva’s metalwork is based on telling stories through imagery and representational elements. Her trademark surface treatment of gesso and colored pencil creates a rich palette for her sculpture and wearable pieces. Her work has been displayed nationally and internationally, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and is represented in public and private collections. Also, she has been featured in numerous books, magazines and catalogues. She was selected as “Master Metalsmith 1999” by the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee and made a Fellow of the Americam Craft Council in 2007. In 2016, she was selected as “Master of the Medium: Jewelry and Metals” by the Renwick Gallery Alliance. Dartmouth College has invited her to be a Montgomery Fellow in 2021. Marilyn da Silva is Professor and Program Co-chair of the Jewelry/Metal Arts Department at California College of the Arts in Oakland where she has been since 1987. Before moving to California, she taught from 1978-87 at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She earned her MFA in Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana and her BS in Art Education at Bowling Green State University.

Artist Statement: 

My work has become a roadmap of my life’s journey with metalwork as my vehicle. Each series I create weaves tales exploring my memories, dreams and visions through both personal and universal stories. Their stratum reveals how I have come to view the world and overlay my path.

I am most content when working with my hands, holding a hammer and expressing my thoughts through line, form and color. Drawing has always been a passion, which is satisfied by using gesso and colored pencil as an embellishment on m work. Subtle nuances enhance the details on each surface as layers build into visual textures. My narrative mixed media often feature detachable pieces that can be worn as brooches or chatelaines. My newest work is using the chatelaine as a vehicle for expressing the current state of affairs in our world. The chatelaine, which became popular in the eighteenth century, consisted of a series of chains or panels often with a hook at the top attaching to the wearer’s waist. From it would hang a variety of useful things such as keys, a watch and/or miniature implements sometimes in small boxes. My contemporary chatelaines hold essential items such as face masks, gloves and measuring tapes.

Supported by the Ann Orr Memorial Fund & Phi Beata Heata Student Organization

Image:
"New Normal: Chatelaine for Social Distancing", 2020, Sterling silver, copper, brass, garnets, gesso, colored pencil, face mask, rubber gloves, tape measure, 12" h x 7"w x 1/2" d
Photo credit: M. Lee Fatherree