Funaki guest posts on materiality 1: Enamel

Last winter during the early pandemic days, Funaki's artists were invited to guest post in Instagram, about anything we liked. I prepared three entries, each about a different material I use and love. Here are those posts, each as their own, starting with ENAMEL. 

I thank my location stars for learning this art, as I studied silversmithing here in Melbourne at RMIT University. They, uniquely, have a long history of enamelling with masters such as Helen Aitken-Kuhnen and Debbie Sheezel having taught there prior to my own brilliant teacher, Dr Kirsten Haydon. 

As patience and fine motor skills are needed in the traditional techniques, my beginnings were naturally full of tears–and this was just the teacher ;) However, a 2010 workshop with Prof. Elizabeth Turrell introducing liquid enamel (also referred to as industrial enamel, see below) was a turning point. The application of a fluid mix and drawing onto it allowed a freedom I’d craved, and eventually gave me enough confidence to keep working with the ultimately very satisfying powdered enamel. 

The traditional vitreous (Latin ‘vitreum’ means glass) enamelling dates back to the 13th century BC. Coloured glass powders are carefully applied onto a base, usually metal, and fused by heat into a strong luminous surface. From the 19th century, enamel began to be used industrially: A liquid glass mix is fired in huge kilns to form a durable coating for everyday domestic wares such as our familiar bathtubs and fridge doors. It’s worth noting too that enamel paint (“cold enamel”) and liquid enamel are two very different things. 

The images (IK 2010-19) show you samples of enamel on steel and copper: Shifted (earrings, pendant); liquid (samples, brooch, vessels), and decals (images in enamel). 

For beautiful pieces in different styles, please also see the work of the artists mentioned in this post. 

 

Enamel animals for Heat Exchange in Arizona

What's been happening?

Now that Heat Exchange-exhibition at the Shemer Arts Center & Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, is over (and has moved across the Atlantic to Erfurt, Germany), I can publish my whole post for the HE-blog here, too (see below).
However, please click on the link below as the collective body of work created for the exhibition by international artists is nothing short of amazing – fascinating in its range of techniques and concepts, and for those interested in contemporary enamelling, a must see! 


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Enamel animals

Originally posted to the Heat Exchange-blog on April 27, 2012


Edited 20 February 2017 to remove corrupted image links.

As a metalsmith, I’m currently interested in different types of steel which can be welded into structures that safely withstand the heat of the kiln, and the application of liquid enamels which allow me to paint metal surface like canvas. The solid structure of steel and the fluid patterns of liquid enamels create a challenging, fascinating combination for ongoing investigation.

My starting point was a steel model from last November, based on studying forms at airports. I wanted to see how I could use similar angular shapes in slightly larger object-based work. Initially, my plan was to continue developing pieces on the airport theme, but as I begun sketching, the idea of movement and a more playful concept about “flight” emerged. I decided to make two winged containers, “enamel animals”, balanced with weights in hidden compartments. I thought they could softly move, if touched, upon their curved bases.

Above are some initial sketches and cardboard models of different wings, and the following images show the evolution of the two objects after welding, going through a couple of different variations of wings and noses. Here you can also see some of my first enamelling samples with liquid enamels on steel and copper, created in 2010 during the life-changing workshop by Elizabeth Turrell in Perth. These early experiments still strongly inspire my use of layers, line and colour in enamelling.

The wings slot into the objects so that they could be inserted separately, without oxidising in the high temperatures of the kiln.

The main materials used for the work were mild and galvanised steel, welded and cold-joined, then enamelled with clear liquid #969 and P3 pigment for surface texturing,
And finally, the finished pieces:


“Enamel Animals, two figures having a conversation, are carefully balanced containers with secret compartments for weights (or any other small, heavy things you might need to hide). If touched, the animals will gently rock, perhaps nodding in agreement, with quiet knowing… “


Cheers and warm regards to everyone – can’t wait to see all the final works!
Inari

night flight

Lately, I've been collating photos of my work in preparation of a website (knock on wood!!), and found some older pieces which I haven't yet posted here.

The dark piece above was originally a part of a larger work, and a sister to the 'white flight' pendant.

Night flight, 2010, enamel on mild steel, 18ct gold
White flight, 2010, enamel on mild steel, 18ct gold

Let us be lovers / New Jersey industrial landscapes

Let us be lovers (New Jersey Industrial landscapes), 2010

Mild steel, enamel, brass, wood, magnets, cold enamel

Photo (top): Jeremy Dillon / Photo (others): Lily Feng; Courtesy of Craft Victoria

This body of work reflects the landscapes I saw and photographed from a train, during a trip from NYC to New Jersey in the winter of 2009. It's the first series of objects I've fabricated from mild steel by welding, and experimented further with the use of liquid enamels, after being introduced to them by Elizabeth Turrell in Perth, in April 2010. Let us be lovers (the title is a reference to the lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel's America) was a steep learning curve for me, inspired further pieces and explorations, and was selected as a finalist for Craft Victoria's annual Fresh!-award for graduating students.

Work for Bell Weather, our Graduate Exhibition 2010

Artists:

Kim Victoria Wearne
Anita van Doorn
Colly Lu
Bin Dixon-Ward
Inari Kiuru
Soo Jeong Jo
Courtney Jackson
Marcos Guzman
Emi Fukuda
Emily Drummond
Lauren Joffe
Timothy Smullen
Alysha Batliwalla
Romy Mittelman
Sarah Fletcher
Chloë Powell


Finally, the assessment is over, work finished (almost : D, i've just been granted the permission to do some very final welding) , and our graduation exhibition Bell Weather mounted, opened and running successfully.

To me, it's a beautiful, personal show and I appreciate every piece in it: Having travelled with my fellow students for three years, all the work in the exhibition speaks about the experiences, learning, challenges and changes we've all gone through, and most of all, of the passion and creative discoveries of each individual. I hope you get to see it too.

It's at 1000 Pound Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St (just 30 metres uphill from Elizabeth Street), very central Melbourne until next Friday the 12th, 6 pm. Welcome!

Here are some snapshots, taken in low light, from my work at the show. It's a small selection from this year's projects, and I'm reasonably happy how things turned out. It was great fun and a deep adventure researching and creating the works. I've been saying that it feels as if I've found a path or direction of some sort, creatively, and really look forward seeing where it can take me, and the other way round.

The main materials this year have been steel and enamel, often constructed by welding, to safely take the heat of the kiln. I've also been experimenting with various other materials, such as glass and wax. Without further ado, the titles of the work are:



Table 1 - Silversmithing, from the largest vessel anti-clockwise:

Honey Blossom Sting / spun, etched steel, copper, enamel

Orange container from Let us be lovers – New Jersey industrial landscapes series / mild steel, sugar fired enamel. The series gets its name from the opening line of the old Simon & Garfunkel ballad 'America' which was playing in my head when we took a train from Manhattan to New Jersey last winter. The objects are based on the photos from that journey.

Evening emerges from Day meets night series / mild steel, galvanised steel,
enamel, liquid gold

Fragile nightmares from Day meets night series / mild steel shim, etched and heat coloured

Andalucia brooch / mild steel, glass, 925 silver, stainless steel pin















(More objects from the New Jersey series, photographed by Jeremy Dillon 2010.)


Table 2: Jewellery

Selected pieces from Winter thoughts (between two summers) series
mild steel, enamel, glass, brass, encaustic wax, safety pins, steel coated copper mesh

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At the end of the exhibition images, some of the background / process images too.
Hope to see you at the show!













"To me, creating objects and jewellery feels exactly like playing and discovering new things did as a child. There is a timeless sense of wonder about bringing abstract concepts, ideas and inner worlds into a tangible form, and witnessing how raw ingredients begin to take on a life of their own. I enjoy experimenting with different materials, learning their language as we spend time together, taking a few risks to see what would happen if ...

I am curious, and I definitely want there to be madness in my method.

As an artist my key objective is to never lose my sense of humour – or of the absurd. Examining our immediate environment, the strange depths of the most mundane things and interactions, is my way of looking for light. A way to survive in this world. There are maps in the dirt, stories in wrinkled wrappers, and whole histories discarded on roadsides. Taking time to honour and share these observations through making feels not only like magic, but like a constant renewal of some kind of human hope. I would like my work to convey this."

Inari Kiuru November 2010


And here, some images leading up to the final works:



Partly finished steel objects, and an etched aluminium cone for the other large vessel.



Etching Honey Blossom Sting the Swedish way (ja ja!)– in an IKEA rubbish bin!
The copper sulfate and salt liquid I've been using works especially well if
mixed with hot water.




Vessel with a copper flange which has a steel support with prongs,
and another large spun vessel with shifted enamel, not yet ready.
I had a lot of trouble getting the enamel to stay on the golden coloured
piece, it kept pinging off in a circular pattern, perhaps because I didn't
prepare the steel surface well enough (emerying off spinning ridges).



Sprayed with Klyrfire and water mix, shifted. I thought at the time
that the shifting was maybe too thick at places, perhaps that's why
the enamel surface was rather uneven initially, and kept breaking.





The welded steel top and an aluminium insert. The top
now has texta drawings of cranes and a thick coat of encaustic
wax – will post a photo as soon as I get a chance to take a proper one.



One of the smaller trivets I made for hanging delicate objects in the kiln.



Etched steel plate and shim; a smaller etched steel vessel
and the beginnings of Fragile nightmares.




My bench at uni, leading up to the final weeks : )

And as a post-scriptum, some images of the Winterthoughts pieces taken in a better light, later on.

Mariposa / Butterfly: New work, 5

mariposa / butterfly (inari kiuru 2010)
mild steel, enamel, 18c gold, 925 silver