Sharon Massey (USA) - Plus One Collective
Sharon Massey
Biography:
Sharon Massey is a metalsmith, jeweler and enamelist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her artwork has been exhibited in Germany, Estonia, Poland, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, Canada, Brazil and Australia, as well as across the United States. Sharon’s work has been included in numerous publications, including American Craft and Metalsmith magazines, The Art of Enameling, and Art Jewelry Today 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions. Her work is included in several public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery. She received a BFA from Winthrop University in 1999, and an MFA from East Carolina University in 2006. Her research interests include historical jewelry and adornment as well as new approaches to education and making with emerging technologies.
Artist Statement:
These recent works, steel and enamel talismans titled Magical Thinking, were made in response to the recent popularity in anti-science sentiment. I decided to make a series of fetish objects that feature symbols of alchemy. Just as medieval alchemists mistakenly believed they could make gold from various mixtures of elements, many people today believe that they somehow know better than scientists about many things, from covid to climate change. Perhaps clinging to these Magical Thinking talismans will affect the outcome of the inevitable, or at least expose the futility of it.
“Magical Thinking” steel, enamel, 2022, 7” x 7” x ½”