Garden & Gun magazine highlighted in their 2023 April/May issue Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, the collaborative exhibition that includes silversmith Kaminer Haislip and indigo textile artist Leigh Magar. The exhibition will be on display at Aiken Center for the Arts in historic downtown Aiken, South Carolina March 30-May 3, 2023. Visit Kaminer’s website Blog for details.
Silver Nest Bowl by Kaminer Haislip and Boo Hag Blue Indigo Baskets by Leigh Magar
Photograph by Jack Alterman
Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver brought together three contemporary artists—a silversmith, textile designer, and photographer—and a curator in 2018 at City Gallery located in Charleston, SC. Curator Brandy Culp worked with Jack Alterman, Kaminer Haislip, and Leigh Magar to weave a story based on their artwork and the Lowcountry’s deep culture both past and present. Haislip and Magar are now bringing a second version of this exhibition to Aiken Center for the Arts situated in historic, downtown Aiken, SC.
This exhibition explores the intersection between the past and present while recognizing that ultimately contemporary art and craft must be rooted in its own time. Inextricably linked, indigo and silver are transformative as raw materials, imbued with symbolism that transcends time and cultures, and imbedded within the early cultural fabric of the Carolina Lowcountry. Although inspired by Charleston’s cultural heritage, each artist brings unique contemporary perspective and original artwork to the exhibition. Interwoven will include silver hollowware, flatware and jewelry, textile art, and artist renderings.
Kaminer Haislip is the only practicing silversmith in Charleston that continues to employ traditional metalworking techniques and tools that have been used for centuries. As a contemporary silversmith, she is inspired by as well as carrying forth the city’s long-standing silversmithing tradition—the silver and metals manufacturing trade was vital to Charleston’s economy from the eighteenth through the early-twentieth centuries. With a nod to the past, she is most inspired by today’s domestic rituals and enhancing daily life through the creation of functional handcrafted objects that are entirely contemporary in form.
Additionally, Haislip received an artist grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission for a film project about her silversmithing. A television screen in the gallery will have the videos playing for the visitors to view. In the films, Haislip demonstrates traditional silversmithing techniques, such as how to make a silver bowl and silver serving spoon, and discusses her work in detail. This engaging educational element will enhance the viewer’s experience of the exhibition and illustrate silversmithing in an exciting way.
Milliner turned textile artist, Leigh Magar has established a small-batch label that combines art, fashion, history, and performance. The “Seed to Stitch” project was inspired by her sea island home’s Indigo history; both rich and tangled. The story of a young girl; Eliza Lucas Pinckney who had the vision of planting indigo and with the work of the enslaved, it was made into a cash crop in South Carolina during the mid 1700s. She interweaves design and nature with her local garden where indigo is grown and then used to create one-of-a-kind collections. Her work includes hand-dyed and hand-stitched garments and goods, textile art, and installations. Magar is inspired by traditional and simple sewing techniques, such as quilt making, rag quilting, and hand sewn-textiles, which she interlaces with contemporary, non-traditional elements.
In addition, Haislip, and Magar will create a collaborative installation for the exhibition inspired by the silhouette and miniature—art forms with long-standing Lowcountry traditions. Providing a modern look at historically significant mediums, these artists are transforming materials important to Charleston’s cultural fabric into contemporary art and inspiring appreciation of waning craft traditions among future generations. Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver will be a unique showing of silver and textile art as it relates the theme of indigo and silver.
Opening Reception – Thursday, March 30 from 6-8pm
Aiken Center for the Arts will host an opening reception for Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver on Thursday, March 30 from 6-8pm. It will be a great opportunity for the public to meet the artists in person and talk to them in the gallery with their artworks.
Stories from the Big Chair – Friday, March 31 from 6-8pm
Friday, March 31 engage with the exhibition during a free wine reception from 6-6:30pm in the main gallery and the power and craft of storytelling beginning at 6:30pm in the upstairs Brown Pavilion. Limited seating for storytelling, reserve your chair for $10 on Aiken Center for the Arts’ website. Join the guest speakers as they share perspectives, build points of connection, and unearth the wisdom and inspiration amongst us. Exploring the meaning of “Interwoven” from their perspectives will be Kaminer Haislip, silversmith, Madame Magar, indigo artist, and Dr. Walter Curry, local author and a mystery speaker.
Artist Lectures – Saturday, April 1 from 1-3pm
Lectures by artist Leigh Magar of the textile design studio Madame Magar and silversmith Kaminer Haislip will take place in the upstairs Brown Pavilion on Saturday, April 1, 2023 from 1pm-3pm.
Kaminer Haislip will present a lecture on the history of colonial Charleston silversmithing and how it relates to her contemporary silver designs. She will describe her handcrafted process in which she uses tools and techniques employed by silversmiths for centuries. Nationally recognized for her metalwork, Kaminer is the only silversmith practicing in Charleston. Inspired by Charleston’s long-standing silversmithing tradition, she feels compelled to carry it forth.
Madame Magar will present a lecture about her work and indigo farm that is inspired by nature, art, and history. She will talk about the rich yet tangled South Carolina indigo history that inspired her “seed to stitch” design philosophy and Madame Magar Blue School. Leigh will discuss her thought provoking, out of the box, one of a kind collections that intertwine art installations and performance with her design studio and shop.
For additional information on the exhibition, events, and programs visit www.aikencenterforthearts.org.
This project is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This project is also funded in part by a generous award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of The Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.
Helena Fox Fine Art in historic, downtown Charleston, SC
Photograph by Marie Rodriguez Photography
Helena Fox Fine Art represents my handcrafted silver designs and regularly carries a curated selection of my silver hollowware, flatware, home objects, and jewelry in their stunning historic, downtown Charleston art gallery.
They are hosting a special event featuring my artwork on Friday, December 2 from 5pm-8pm and Saturday, December 3 from 12pm-4pm. Our Friday event will be part of the downtown Charleston artwalk for the month of December and we are thrilled to participate.
I will exhibit a wider variety of my silver functional home objects, original jewelry designs, and Christmas ornaments than what the gallery usually shows during this festive holiday shopping event. I hope to see you there!
Helena Fox Fine Art
106A Church Street
Charleston, SC 29401
843-723-0073
Dawn Corley, also known as The Charleston Silver Lady, is an antiques historian and expert on silver. She will have a special showing of Kaminer Haislip’s contemporary silver objects and jewelry at her Lexington, South Carolina location on Thursday, December 8 from 4:30pm-6:30pm. In addition to Kaminer’s work, she will have on display antique objects and silver pieces from her own private collection.
The event will be hosted at 212 East Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072. Please use the side door as a private entrance. Parking is available for guests in a parking garage across the street as well as at a Counseling Center next door.
This festive holiday shopping event will be very shiny and bright!
Dawn Corley, also known as The Charleston Silver Lady, is an antiques historian and expert on silver. She will have a special showing of Kaminer Haislip’s contemporary silver objects and jewelry at her Lexington, South Carolina location on Wednesday, December 8 from 4:30pm-6:30pm. In addition to Kaminer’s work, she will have on display antique objects and silver pieces from her own private collection.
The event will be hosted at 212 East Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072. Please use the side door as a private entrance. Parking is available for guests in a parking garage across the street as well as at a BB&T bank next door.
This fun holiday shopping event will be very shiny and bright!
Dawn Corley, also known as The Charleston Silver Lady, is an antiques historian and expert on silver. She will have a special showing of Kaminer Haislip’s contemporary silver objects and jewelry at her Lexington, SC location on Thursday, November 21 from 4:30pm-6:30pm. In addition to Kaminer’s work, she will have on display antique objects and silver pieces from her own private collection.
The event will be hosted at 212 East Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072. Please use the side door as a private entrance. Parking is available for guests in a parking garage across the street as well as at a BB&T bank next door.
This fun holiday shopping event will be very shiny and bright!
Art Mag, a publication publication focused on the arts in Charleston, SC, highlighted Kaminer Haislip’s silver hollowware vessel Gradual Erosion being included in the international silver exhibition Schoonhoven Silver Award. To learn more about this exhibition, visit the Blog on this website. Many thanks to Art Mag for such a lovely interview and feature!
by Emily Reyna
Charleston makes its way across the pond to Europe where local artist and silversmith Kaminer Haislip will exhibit her silver vessel, Gradual Erosion.
“It was an incredible honor to have my silver vessel, Gradual Erosion, selected for the international Schoonhoven Silver Award. The opportunity to share my silver work with a European audience in both Schoonhoven, The Netherlands and Freiberg, Germany is very much appreciated,” says Haislip. “It’s the second time my silver hollowware has been exhibited in this special silver exhibition, and it’s a wonderful compliment.”
The piece’s name is inspiration by natural erosion. “The vessel form was based on a mountain shape and the etched surface lines are my own artistic interpretation of the gradual linear disintegration. The erosion begins at the base of the vessel, so the center line is tapered in to portray the slow breakdown of the mountain over time. The concept of erosion relates to the passing of time, what is lost, and what is taken away,” Haislip explains.
Technique and craft are central to Haislip’s creative process when working with fine metals. “I crafted the vessel by fabricating sterling silver sheet, which was hammered over five different cast iron stakes to create the asymmetrical shape,” describes Haislip. “The linear surface design was drawn by hand and etched with nitric acid to create the erosion inspired texture. All aspects of the construction were done entirely by hand utilizing traditional silversmithing techniques.”
Gradual Erosion will be on view at the City and Mining Museum in Freiberg, Germany from June 29 – October 2019.
Visit Art Mag at the link below for this article and many more exciting articles about the arts in Charleston!
The international silver object (no jewelry) exhibition Schoonhoven Silver Award 2018, which Kaminer Haislip’s silver vessel Gradual Erosion is included, will travel to the City and Mining Museum in Freiberg, Germany. The exhibition began at The Netherlands Silver Museum and was on exhibition from December 2018 – May 2019.
The exhibition will be on display at the City and Mining Museum in Freiberg, Germany from June 29 – October, 2019. Learn more about their showing of this exceptional exhibition on their website.
Schoonhoven Silver Award 2018 includes a wide variety of silversmiths from all over the world and its goal was to inspire artists to test and explore the boundaries of their traditional art and craft. The Netherlands Silver Museum sought objects that bear a direct relationship with the museum’s policy of stimulating the exploration of new technologies and uses, and innovative art forms. Innovation, as envisioned in the Award’s present edition, centers on the rejuvenation of past, time-honored techniques and on the preservation of this heritage through injecting dynamic new life into the art of silversmithing.
The international Schoohnoven Silver Award exhibition began in 2001 and 2018 is the seventh edition of this unique silversmithing focused exhibition. Kaminer Haislip’s silver and ebony teapot Perched Flight was included in the 2009 exhibition Poetry in Silver, so she is excited and honored to exhibit again with her new silver vessel Gradual Erosion.
Gradual Erosion is currently available for sale, but will not be available for delivery until after the exhibition travels to two other European countries and ends in September 2019. Gradual Erosion will be returned to Kaminer Haislip after the exhibition and you can contact her directly for details at kaminer@kaminerhaislip.com.
To learn more about Gradual Erosion, visit its product page on this website’s Shop at https://www.kaminerhaislip.com/silver-art-jewelry-baby/gradual-erosion-silver/
Kaminer Haislip’s silver vessel Gradual Erosion was accepted into the international silver object (no jewelry) exhibition Schoonhoven Silver Award 2018!
The exhibition is hosted by The Netherlands Silver Museum in Schoonhoven and opened December 7, 2018. Schoonhoven Silver Award 2018 will be on display for three months before traveling to cities in Belgium and Germany until November 2019.
Schoonhoven Silver Award 2018 includes a wide variety of silversmiths from all over the world and its goal was to inspire artists to test and explore the boundaries of their traditional art and craft. The Netherlands Silver Museum sought objects that bear a direct relationship with the museum’s policy of stimulating the exploration of new technologies and uses, and innovative art forms. Innovation, as envisioned in the Award’s present edition, centers on the rejuvenation of past, time-honored techniques and on the preservation of this heritage through injecting dynamic new life into the art of silversmithing.
The international Schoohnoven Silver Award exhibition began in 2001 and 2018 is the seventh edition of this unique silversmithing focused exhibition. Kaminer Haislip’s silver and ebony teapot Perched Flight was included in the 2009 exhibition Poetry in Silver, so she is excited and honored to exhibit again with her new silver vessel Gradual Erosion.
Gradual Erosion is currently available for sale, but will not be available for delivery until after the exhibition travels to two other European countries and ends in November 2019. Gradual Erosion will be returned to Kaminer Haislip after the exhibition and you can contact her directly for details at kaminer@kaminerhaislip.com.
To learn more about Gradual Erosion, visit its product page on this website’s Shop at https://www.kaminerhaislip.com/silver-art-jewelry-baby/gradual-erosion-silver/
To learn more about The Netherlands Silver Museum or Schoonhoven Silver Award 2018 visit the two links below.
The Hyperallergic article”Artists and Designers Tell New Stories of Old Silver” by Sarah Archer features the silver “Pillinger” Kaminer Haislip and Constantin Boym collaborated on for the Museum of the City of New York exhibition New York Silver: Then and Now. See below for excepts from Hyperallergic’s online article and click on the link at the bottom to view the entire article.
“The difference between these two high-profile silver endeavors is that while Tiffany’s tips its hat to Pop Art with a Warholian copy-and-paste premise, New York Silver: Then and Now mines history to produce something totally original. The artists and designers in the Museum of the City of New York show have explored the silver objects of another world — that of New York of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and thoughtfully interpreted their forms to speak to contemporary concerns. Doing so in a precious metal, the material of heirlooms and presentation vases, gives the effort the respect it’s due.”
“It’s not an accident that silver makes us think of grandma, whether or not our own personal grandmas actually collected, used, or displayed silver — most of them may not have. But grandmothers are culturally coded as the keepers of domestic tradition. “Grandmother’s silver” may actually be silver-plate rather than sterling, but the phrase still sounds rather refined. The works in Falino’s exhibition are designed to upend this idea, but they largely do so with a posh accent. The contemporary works range from subtle to campy, which makes them good analogs to silver from different time periods — colonial silver looks positively minimalist when compared with the flamboyant spectacle of a Victorian presentation vase. There are some witty takes on forms of hollowware that have long fallen out of regular use.
In response to John Hastier’s lovely 1750 silver porringer (a small bowl with a decorative handle), the industrial designer Constantin Boym and silversmith Kaminer Haislip created the “Pillinger,” a small dish whose handle is decorated with a design of round and oblong pills.”