A IL E E N O S B O R N W E B B A W A R D S
Fellow
Jamie
Bennett
Top left:
Jamie Bennett
Urban Traces $,
brooch,
2007, enamel, gold,
copper,
i Va
x 1% in.
Bottom left:
Jamie Bennett
Second Record o f
Spring,
2008, enamel,
copper, wood,
mirror, 12 x 12 x 2 in.
Collection of Museum
of Arts and Design.
Fellow
Bernard
Bernstein
Middle:
Bernard Bernstein
Kiddush cup, 2002, ster-
ling silver, 3%
x i 7/8
in.
Right:
Bernard Bernstein
Torah crown, 1970,
sterling silver,
17
x
19
x
3 in.
Collection of Brooklyn Museum.
One of the preeminent enamel-
ists in the u .s., Jamie Bennett
(b. 1948) has created a body of
jewelry noted for painterly
surfaces, technical mastery and
eclectic cultural references,
qualities abundantly displayed
in his currently traveling retro-
spective, “Edge of the Sublime”
(and companion book). A grad-
uate of the University of Geor-
gia, Bennett received his M FA
from the State University of
New York, New Paltz (1974),
where he has been a professor
of art in the metal program since
1985. He also taught in the Pro-
gram in Artisanry at Boston
University (1980-85). Bennett
is fascinated by enameled jew-
elry as a medium for represent-
ing natural forms, but he notes
that his floral images are “dislo-
cated and botanically inaccu-
rate, a subjective quality that
appeals to me.” He avoids mime-
sis, preferring “to concoct and
unravel whatever I work from.”
As a metalsmith in New York
City for 50 years, Bernard Bern-
stein (b. 1928) has devoted him-
self to the design and execution
of Jewish ceremonial objects.
A graduate of City College, he
earned an
m f a
in silversmith-
ing and jewelry from the Roch-
ester Institute of Technology
O963) and an EdD in creative
arts from New York University
(1971). He was drawn to Judaica
in the late 50s through study
with Ludwig Wolpert, a pioneer
of modernist ritual objects.
Bernstein was on the industrial
education faculty at C C N Y
(1962-86) and since 1988 has
taught at the 92nd Street Y.
His work is in synagogue, pri-
vate and museum collections.
Bernstein’s goal for his Hanukah
lamps, Torah ornaments, kid-
dush cups and spice boxes is that
they “promote a special state
of mind” by their presence “in
a sacred place during a sacred
moment.”
054 american craft dec/jan 10
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Urban Traces
j photo courtesy o f Sienna Gallery.
