As part of the Saturday Salon Series, HCCC is pleased to present Resident Artist Talks by current residents, Jessica Andersen, Rebecca Hewitt, and Eric Stearns.
Discover the artistic process of working craft artists at this afternoon event. Learn about the artists’ works of art, influences, processes, and materials. After the talks, explore the artists’ studios, where visitors are encouraged to ask questions.
HCCC’s Saturday Salon Series explores the many facets of craft through artist talks, curator-led discussions, demonstrations, and more.
Jessica Anderson
Jessica Andersen was born in the small farming community of Audubon, Iowa. She received a BFA in jewelry and metal arts in 2009 from the University of Iowa. In 2011, Jessica started a new chapter, leaving the Midwest for the West Coast, to attend graduate school at San Diego State University, where she received her MFA in jewelry and metalwork. Jessica recently finished a six-month residency at Craft Alliance in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had time to experiment and develop her work as a studio artist. More importantly, perhaps, she was able to teach in the Mural Arts and Crafting a Future program, learning just how deeply individuals can be affected by close mentorship.
Jessica’s work addresses the affect of objects and defined notions of waste in relation to ideas of collection. In her work, she attempts to showcase the form and appeal of detritus in the construction and presentation of jewelry. She hopes to generate new interactions between the wearer and object and between viewer and cultural predispositions.
Jessica will be with HCCC through August, 2017. During her six-month residency, she plans to continue developing work and grow new ideas concerning the relationships between objects and the value and memory instilled upon them. For more information, please visit www.jessicanandersen.com.
Rebecca Hewitt
Rebecca Lynn Hewitt was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, with a bachelor of fine arts in jewelry and metalsmithing, in 2016. She was recently named the Ethical Metalsmith Student Committee’s “2016 Emerging Artist.”
Rebecca’s work investigates environmental issues through wearable and handheld objects, as well as community engagement. Creating wearable work allows overwhelming issues to be presented in an intimate but approachable manner. She views her work as a platform to seek self-education and improvement, while also encouraging others to educate themselves.
During her residency, Rebecca will continue to research environmental issues through wearable work and community workshops. She will also continue to expand her jewelry line, Flora and Grain. Primarily working with sustainable materials, such as dried and pressed flora, wood, and silver, Rebecca will explore how to best merge traditional metalsmithing techniques with technology.
Rebecca will be at HCCC through August, 2017. To learn more about her work, please visit rebeccalynnhewitt.com.
Eric Stearns
Eric Stearns was born near North Platte, Nebraska. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 2003 from Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, and then opened his first studio, Stearns Ceramics, in North Platte. After a couple of years teaching full time, working in his studio, and assisting his family on the ranch, he re-committed to his art and received a Master of Fine Arts in 2008, studying under Linda Ganstrom at Fort Hays State University. Eric then returned to Doane College and is now associate professor and chair of the Art Department.
When not teaching, Eric spends time in the studio creating sculptural, pierced raku art. Through his work, he hopes to strike a chord with the viewer that conveys a fragile and fleeting existence. He uses the raku process to accentuate the intersecting fragility of life, passionate connections, and the pain of betrayal, using the matrix of the objects to allude to those concepts. With his interest in mathematics, he creates patterns and explores the relationships between those patterns, as well as the effects of the color and texture of the glazes he uses to elicit emotional responses. He says, “Each piece created is an attempt at a reflection of who I am as a person and as an artist at the moment my hands touch the clay and then continues through the glazing and firing processes. In this reflection, my hope is that a viewer can find a connection to their own experiences on this journey of life.”
Eric will be at HCCC through June, 2017. To learn more about his work, visit https://stearnsceramics.com/.
