Cynthia Cetlin

Artist Statement

The neckpieces on exhibit mark a new direction in my work. The narrative qualities of former pieces are absent. The brooches which dominated my work for years hung on the body as a two-dimensional work would hang on a gallery wall. A transition work, a neckpiece entitled “Melt,” referring to the issue of global warming, featured multiple pendant forms. Now, radiantly colored, repeating sculptural forms adorn the body, draping or dangling with its movement.

My former work was about telling, this work is about being. I still feel the same anguish about the state of the environment and other global matters, but these concerns, for me, have to be balanced by a celebration of nature and beauty. I have always had an intense attachment to color, which is a continual concern in my work, whether it was introduced with the reactive metals niobium, tantalum and titanium; enameling; anodized aluminum; the colors of metals themselves or patination. My latest focus has been to create intense, joyful, plentiful, sculptural color.


Exhibitions

Master of Fine Arts in Metalsmithing, State University of New York
College at New Paltz, 1983.
Master of Arts in Teaching in Art Education, Simmons College,
Boston, Massachusetts, 1976.
Bachelor of Arts in Art History, Barnard College, New York, New York, 1973. Minor in French LiteratureCURRENT POSITION:
Professor of Art, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, 1987-present.GRANTS:
TEW grant, 2006, research in decorative arts collections, in Islamic ornament and architecture; travel to southern Spain, Paris , Istanbul.
Thomas E. Wenzlau Grant, Ohio Wesleyan University, 2003-2004;
research in enameling.
Thomas E. Wenzlau Grant, Ohio Wesleyan University, 1999-2000; research in Mexico and the U.S. on Mexican craft, folk art and colonial architecture.
Thomas E. Wenzlau Grant, 1997-1998; research in precious metals and mixed media.
TEW grant, 1992, travel and research of art collections throughout FranceSELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
“The Best of 2008,” Ohio Craft Museum and other Ohio museums. Poster Award:
Necklace #8.
“The Best of the Best of,” Wayne Center for the Arts, Wooster, OH, July-September, 2006.
“The Best of 2005” and “The Best of 2006,” Ohio Craft Museum and other Ohio museums. Cetlin, p.2
“Masterful Metalsmiths,” Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, Lancaster, Ohio, February-March, 2005.
“Educators/Educated: Jewelry and Metals in Ohio,” Riffe Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, The Butler Institute of American Art and The Cleveland Institute of Art, November, 2004-July 2005; curator: Wendy Brown.
“The Best of 2004,” Ohio Craft Museum, May-June, and the Wayne Center for the Arts, July-August, 2004.
“The Arsenal Metals & Enamels Exhibition 2004, Columbus Cultural Arts Center, Columbus, Ohio, March-April, 2004.
“The Best of 2003,” Ohio Designer Craftsmen, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, and the Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, Ohio, May-August, 2003.
“Craft USA 2002,” Silvermine Guild Galleries, New Canaan Connecticut, November-December, 2002.
“Metal Departures,” Society of Midwest Metalsmiths, Emerson Gallery, St. Louis, MO, October-December, 2002.
“The Best of 2002,” Ohio Designer Craftsmen, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, and The Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, Ohio, May-August, 2002.
“Materials Hard & Soft, 2001” The Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, Texas, January-March, 2001.
“Materials Hard & Soft, 2000,” The Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, Texas, January-March, 2000.
“The Wichita National 1999,” The Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, Kansas, September-October,1999.
“Measure for Measure: Jewelers Explore the Four Dimensions,” Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery, Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, Connecticut, July-September,1999.
“Metal Works 1999,” Iowa City Arts Center and Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa, April -May, 1999.
“The Best of 1988-The Best of 2001,” Ohio Designer Craftsmen, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, and The Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, Ohio; every yearly “Best Of” exhibition since taking up residence in Ohio; Vada Beetler Memorial Award for Excellence in Metal, 1997.
“Precious Metals,” Galeria Mesa, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, Arizona, February-March, 1999.
“Materials Hard & Soft, 1999,” The Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, Texas, January-March, 1999.
“Brooch, The Subject,” traveling exhibition administered by the Arizona Commission on the
Cetlin, p.3
Arts, spring 1996-June, 2000; also, the original exhibition, “Brooch, The Subject,” Tempe Arts Center, Tempe, Arizona, 1994.
“Creature Feature,” Galeria Mesa, Mesa, Arizona, December 1997-January, 1998.
Spiva National Contemporary Crafts Competitive,” Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, Missouri, November-December 1997; Merit Award for brooch, “Mountain Villa.”PUBLICATION OF WORK:
“Siesta,” included in 500 BROOCHES, Inspiring Adornments for the Body, Martha Le Van, ed., Lark Books, 2005.
Work included in JEWELRY: FUNDAMENTALS OF METALSMITHING, Tim McCreight, Brynmorgen Press, 1999.