What is left behind/what still remains

In What's Left Behind/What Still Remains, I explored the usefulness of traditional metalsmithing processes and forms to properly express contemporary concerns. Reflecting on traditional metalwork objects, I realized our contemporary culture lacks comparable heirloom and ritual objects to mark life events. Using a variety of metalworking techniques, I produced a series of sculptural artworks, some wearable, some not. The sixteen art pieces that comprise What's Left Behind/What Still Remains were fabricated using a variety of techniques to form individual components, which were then assembled the final artworks. Art, no less than life, derives from a physical and intellectual investigation of the world. The goal of this body of work was to present a series of objects to function as memorial objects; art pieces capable of providing an environment in which the viewer can engage empathetically with the occurrence represented therein. Threshold moments are appropriately experienced within liminal spaces; I sought to create that space through these art pieces.Department of ArtThesis (M.A.