AIR Interviews: Leslie Shershow

This week, we share the second in a series of interviews with our current artists-in-residence (AIRs). Leslie Shershow is a metalsmith and jeweler from the small town of Belfast, Maine. After graduating from the Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA in metals, she stayed in the Boston area to further develop her jewelry at her studio in Somerville, MA, exhibiting her work in various group shows around the country. Prior to joining HCCC as an artist-in-residence, she taught metalsmithing to children and adults in various art centers and colleges in the Boston area and managed the metalshop at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts  for several years. She has been with HCCC since August and will be here through March, 2012. 

Diamond Rings by Leslie Shershow (plastic). Photo courtesy the artist.

Leslie Shershow. Diamond Ring, 2011.
Copper, brass, silver, auto paint. Photo courtesy the artist.

Tell us a little bit about your work.
Right now I'm inspired by wonky home improvements and functional crafts. I find much beauty in the way a novice craftsman might fix his home--I'm interested in the evolution of a domestic structure due to regular maintenance. I tend to work the same way--by starting with an object and scrounging for the part that will turn it into a functional piece of jewelry. The theme is pretty nostalgic for me--I grew up in Maine, so I use fishing and nautical imagery, along with funny home-maintenance things my dad used to do.

 

How did you get your start making jewelry?
I had first learned a little metalsmithing in high school crafts class and hated it. I melted my first project!  Later, in college, when it was time to choose my major, I was really impressed by the work that came out of the metals department, so metals is what I chose.

Where do your ideas come from? 

Everything, really. I guess my work comes out of interests that keep surfacing over and over again.

Leslie Shershow's necklace from the Home Improvement Series. Photo courtesy the artist.

Leslie Shershow's bracelet from the Home Improvement Series. Photo courtesy the artist.

What artist or designer do you admire, and why?
Iris Bodemer is one of my favorite jewelers (among many). I admire her because, in a lecture, she told us she took out a bank loan in the form of a gold block and proceeded to slice it into jewelry. That is very admirable to me.

In your bio, it says that you’ve taught metalsmithing to both children and adults. What do you enjoy most about teaching? What is it like teaching metalsmithing to children?
I really enjoy the challenge. Metalsmithing embodies so many different techniques, and many times, there are multiple ways to do something. I mostly taught small classes, so I had to work with each student individually to see what methods work best. Teaching children can be really difficult.  Metalsmithing is a tedious and time consuming practice, and there isn't much instant satisfaction. It's hard for kids to sit down and sand for hours, especially when they're wound up from a day at school and candy they got from 7-11.
 
What are you doing when you’re not creating?
I like hanging out with the other lovely AIRs and HCCC staff, visiting museums, and going for runs. Lately, my boyfriend and I have been working on a large stained-glass terrarium to prevent our cats from eating our plants. 

 Metalsmith and jeweler, Leslie Shershow. Photo courtesy the artist.

Describe yourself in five words.
I like to make things.

Being a Northerner, is there anything you find humorous or strange about Houston? I think it's funny that a lot of people in Houston's public places are either really dressed up or in their gym clothes. I come from a place of in-betweeners.

AIR Interviews: Celia Butler

This week, we are posting the first in a series of interviews with our newest artists-in-residence. Celia Butler, from Carbondale, IL, is a mixed-media artist who holds a MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. She has been with HCCC since August and will be here through the end of November. Be sure to come in and check out her studio before she leaves! To learn more about HCCC’s Artist-in-Residence Program, click here.

Celia Butler. Sugar Gazing, 2011. C print. Photo courtesy of the artist.

What kind of work do you make? 

I make work about fantasy and the over-idealized female, which I see as a strange combination of adolescence, sexuality, and perfection. The images I create are of a youthful and innocent female wearing a sugar bow some place on her body. Currently, I'm working on a life-sized porcelain doll that I will photograph similarly to my other photographic work. I'm also working on some heavily adorned, adult-sized baby bibs for the doll to wear. And, yes, I realize this sounds weird.


What is sugar pulling? Can you explain the process and how it became part of your work? Sugar pulling is a process in which you literally pull a hot sugar mixture until it becomes glossy and ribbon-like. Most people are familiar with ribbon candy, which is made with the sugar-pulling method.

I had previously been making work about adornment but decided that, instead of using bows made from real ribbon, I would use ones made from ribbon candy. Making the bows from sugar facilitates a critique on the contemporary idealized female because it implies an oversaturation of sweetness, innocence, and fragility. Candy's oral nature also suggests sexuality.

Celia Butler. Photo by Erin Sweeny and Brittany Nelson.

Are there any artists or designers who you are inspired by?
I think that artists who have successfully managed to make their studio practice their full-time job are pretty inspiring.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Still making art.

What is your favorite thing about Houston?
Favorites are hard—and I've only been here for two months—but Houston's art scene seems to be busy and well supported.

Can you tell us something we’d be surprised to know about you?
My cell phone is broken and displaying everything upside down and backwards. If I haven't responded to your text, it's because I'm still trying to figure out what it says.

Who would play you in the movie of your life?
I'm assuming I'll be dead before that ever happens, so the casting director can just choose for me.