Body / Motion curated by Elizabeth Essner
18 November 2019 - 3 January 2020
82 Franklin Street
Jewelry moves, collaborating with the body for its effect. Movement serves as the point of departure for Body / Motion, an exhibition that explores the influence of kinetic jewelry through two artists, emerging Japanese jeweler itoaya (b. 1982) and American sculptor George Rickey (1907-2002). Rickey’s work has served as a key source for itoaya and this exhibition will trace inspiration over time and place.
A central figure in the development of abstract kinetic sculpture, George Rickey occasionally worked in jewelry. Rarely seen, the artist made jewelry almost exclusively as gifts for loved ones. The hairpins and earrings on view extend the themes Rickey explored in his larger sculptural work, a combination of time and motion.
Rickey’s kinetic geometry has served as a source of inspiration for contemporary jeweler itoaya, who has developed her own possibilities for dynamic abstraction. Her works often function in multiple ways. They can be hung as mobiles and worn as adornment, dancing with the body or on the wall. Born in Japan and based in Bangkok, Body / Motion will be the artist’s US debut.
About itoaya
itoaya was born in Tokyo in 1982. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Product Design from Tokyo Gakugei University in 2006 and her Master’s Degree in Jewelry Design from Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand in 2018. Her interest in kinetic movement led her to study its principles through the work of Alexander Calder, Tim Prentice, and George Rickey, all of whom the artist sites as influences. itoaya’s jewelry begins with the expression of an emotion; she uses kinetic movement to connect it to the body. Based in Bangkok, Body / Motion is the artist’s US debut.