Arline Fisch: Creatures from the Deep
Arline Fisch, Corals, 2009. Coated copper wire. Photograph courtesy of William Gullette
For almost forty years, world-renowned jewelry artist Arline Fisch has rarely created anything but jewelry. On view until Oct. 11, Creatures from the Deep, challenges the artist to bring her work to a grand scale, using knitting and crocheting techniques to create 'families' of jellyfish out of her signature color-coated copper wire.
Each of Fisch's 'families' in the installation varies dramatically in form and color, suggesting different species of jellies. Suspended in air and swaying together in the galleries, they submerse visitors in a captivating and otherworldly undersea environment. A series of corals and sea anemones rest below, all fabricated in the same very small gauge of wire.
Fisch first explored jellyfish in her silver work in the mid-1960s, fascinated by their many forms and brilliant colors, and then revisited the form in a necklace based on the Lion's Mane Jellyfish in 1999. For this commission, she again chose the creature as her theme, inspired by Racine Art Museum's proximity to the waters of Lake Michigan.
"The larger-than-life sea creatures in Fisch's installation seem right at home in the Puget Sound," says Nora Atkinson, who is curating the local presentation of the exhibition. "I think it will be a real treat, especially for children and families."
Arline Fisch is a perennial figure in the metals community. She is one of the pioneers of the body-jewelry movement of the 1960s and author of the book Textile Techniques in Metal, published in 1975, 1996 and 2001. She currently holds the title of Professor of Art Emerita at San Diego State University.
Arline Fisch: Creatures from the Deep is organized by the Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin.
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Also in this Issue:
- The Metal Museum: Providing the Tools for a New Generation of Coppersmiths
- The Invention of the Daguerreotype Process
- Picture it Perfect: Kinetic Copper Sprinklers
- Susan Venable Studio: Ancient to Abstract Constructions
- Arline Fisch: Creatures from the Deep