function are major components
of her work: the teapots must work and fish servers
must serve fish. At the same time each work must stand
alone aesthetically.
“Experiencing the cultures of former
Yugoslavia and Norway with knowledge and ability to
speak their language has influenced my design sense
and my ability to appreciate differing ways of accomplishing
the same task. These differences combined with my Southern
cultural background have fused together giving me a
new way to look, to do, to say in my pattern of artistic
expression… We lived successively in Yugoslavia
and Norway (three years each country). Equipped with
a working fluency in both languages, I was able to explore
what was being done locally in design and execution.
Accordingly, I could appreciate differing ways of meeting
creative challenges.”
“The relationship of my work
to place was most pronounced in an international setting:
Finland. Here I studied for one year, enabled by a Fulbright
grant under Finnish master silversmiths. Understandably
the relationship was very close and the influence of
these skilled artisans was profound, both on me and
my work, in every dimension. Reinforcing this learning
experience were visits to neighboring countries (Estonia,
Sweden, Norway) and particularly St. Petersburg, Russia.
Here the focus was on pieces produced by the Fabergé
workshop in the city.”
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