EXPO ‘BETTINA SPECKNER a rose is a rose is a rose’ – Sienna Gallery – 15 Oct.-14 Nov. 2010

BETTINA SPECKNER a rose is a rose is a rose

Artists Reception: Saturday October 23, 2010 5-7
Artist talk: Sunday October 24, 11 am

« In my work I am particularly fond of photographs. Sometimes they are old and show bygone places or people of former times, quite often however I use photos I took myself of trunks, flowers, lonesome lanes or landscapes. These pictures turn into pieces of jewelry.
To turn photos into gems, the images are etched on small metal plates or burned on enamel. They become part of an individual composition: precious metals, diamonds, coloured stones and found objects begin to lead lives of their own. Patterns and ornaments arise. Often I employ seemingly banal but peculiar everyday items, forging the sublime and the profane into a new poetic harmony.
I do not work with the intention to decorate things or to make them look prettier. I search to discover the soul of an object or the essence of a photograph and to shape something new which appeals to me and to other people far beyond the optical appearance.
For this exhibition I used text for the first time, creating a group of pieces that draw upon the idea that simply using the name of a thing invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it. Some works came after the text choice and others used the text as catalyst. To ‘see’ the pieces it is not necessary to know the text, it is used as another layer, transparent yet substantive.  » Bettina Speckner 2010

Cinderella - Brooch, 2010 Photoetching in Zinc, Silver, Diamonds 8 X 5 cm

Os Argonautas (Caetano Veloso) – Neckpiece , 2010 Ferrotype, Diamond, Silver, Leaf, Resin

Barbara’s Song

I once used to think in my innocent youth, (And I once was as innocent as you), That someone some day might come my way, And then I should know what ‘ s best to do. And if he ‘ d got money, and seemed a nice chap, And his workday shirts were white as snow, And if he knew how to treat a girl with due respect, I ‘ d have to tell him, « No! » That ‘ s where you must keep your head screwed on and insist on going slow. Sure the moon will shine throughout the night, Sure the boat is on the river tied up tight, That ‘ s as far as things can go. Oh, you can ‘ t lie back, you must stay cold at heart,
Oh, you must not let your feelings show. Oh, the moment you feel it might start, Oh, then your only answer ‘ s, « No! » The first one that came was a man of Kent, And all that a man ought to be. The second one owned three ships down at Wopping, And the third was crazy about me. And as they ‘ d got money, and all seemed nice chaps, And their workday shirts were white as snow, And as they knew how to treat a girl with due respect, Each time I told them, « No! » 

That ‘ s when I used to get my head screwed on and I chose to take it slow. Sure the moon could shine throughout the night, Sure the boat was on the river tied up tight, That ‘ s as far as things could go. Oh, you can ‘ t lie back, you must stay cold at heart, Oh, you must not let your feelings show. Oh, the moment you feel it might start, Oh, then your only answer ‘ s, « No! » But then one day, and the day was blue, Came a man who didn ‘ t ask at all. And he went and hung his hat on the nail of my little attic, And what happened, I can ‘ t recall. And as he ‘ d got no money and was not a nice chap, And his Sunday shirts were not like snow, And as he ‘ d no idea of treating a girl with due respect, I could not tell him, « No! » That ‘ s the day my head was not screwed on, and to hell with going slow! Oh, the moon could shine so clear and bright, Oh, the boat kept drifting downstream that night, That was how it simply had to go. Oh, you can ‘ t lie back, you must stay cold at heart, In the end you ‘ ll have to let your feelings show. Oh, the moment you know it might start, And there ‘ s no time for saying, « No! »  - Berthold Brecht/ Kurt Weil, Threepenny Opera

Fallenblumen (Snare Flowers) Hommage à Daniel Spoerri
Brooch, 2010 Photo in Enamel, Silver, Ruby Cabochon, Amethyst, Garnet 9 X 7.5 cm 

Alice in Wonderland - Pendant, 2009 Ferrotype, Diamond, Silver, Leaf, Resin 10 X 5.5 cm

The Cloths of Heaven - Brooch, 2009 Ferrotype, Diamond, Silver 9 X 5 cm 

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven
Had I the heavens ‘ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
William Butler Yeats 1865-1939 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Brooch, 2010 Photo in Enamel, Silver, Gold, Citrine 9 X 6 cm
Earrings, 2010 Photoetching in Zinc, Gold, Tourmaline, Citrine drops 5.5 X 1.5 cm

A Rose is a Rose is Rose (Gertrude Stein)
Brooch , 2001 Photo etching in zinc, Red Gold, black diamonds 7 X 4 cm

 

Sienna Gallery
80 Main Street
Lenox, MA 01240 USA
[phone] 8386
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