Polymer clay sometimes gets a bad rap. It is often misunderstood to be a simple medium, easily manipulated, however, after viewing work created by master polymer artists one realizes this could not be farther from the truth.
On August 8th the Fuller Craft Museum will be opening an exhibition dedicated to large-scale sculpture, furniture, wall pieces, and installations created in polymer clay. This exhibiton entitled, Sculpting Color: Works in Polymer Clay, will run through November 22nd. The exhibiton, curated by artist Kathleen Dustin, "explores surprising applications of this medium, showcasing artists and innovators continually pushing the limits of this highly adaptable, dazzlingly colored material".
Boston is also home to polymer clay jewelry artist Betsy Baker of Stonehouse Studio who creates innovative work that transcends assumed limitations of the medium and transforms polymer clay magically into hand-held works of art. Baker creates her jewelry full-time and sells her unique creations directly to customers at New England area art and craft fairs. She can be found every Sunday at the SoWa Open Market now through October in Boston's South End neighborhood.
In speaking about her work, Baker shares how she first became interested in working with her medium and how she feels it differs from other types of jeweler materials, "I discovered polymer clay by accident while researching PMC (silver in clay form). I was intrigued by the colors and versatility of polymer. You only need basic tools, a pasta machine to condition and sheet the clay and a regular oven to get started. I bought a couple of books and some clay, and was immediately hooked".
"I started out making jewelry by stringing stone and silver beads. While stringing is an interesting exercise in design, I felt I needed to tap into my creativity a bit more and create jewelry from scratch. You can take polymer in a lot of different directions and it is an inexpensive medium, so it lends itself to lots of experimentation. In my work, I concentrate on surface techniques, including image transfers, alcohol ink and acrylic layering, silkscreening, and mica shift, which manipulates the mica particles in metallic clays to create a design. From the beginning, I wanted to combine polymer with silver, so I've also learned metalsmithing skills that I've adapted to working with polymer".
If all you know of polymer clay is brightly colored beads made with Femo and a rolling pin, seeing what contemporary polymer clay artists are up to will truly open your mind to a new world of color, experimentation, inspiration. Explore polymer clay today!
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If you are intrigued by the evolution of polymer clay into the innovative and creative contemporary media its become, Kathleen Dustin will be leading a panel discussion by some of todays top artists in the media at Fuller Craft Museum on Sunday August 16th at 1pm.
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