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Silver Magazine – November/December 2023

Silver Magazine – November/December 2023 Issue

“Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver” by Kaminer Haislip

It was truly an honor for Silver Magazine to invite me to write an article about me and Leigh Magar’s recent exhibition Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver at Aiken Center for the Arts in historic, downtown Aiken, South Carolina. We are thrilled to have our artwork and exhibition featured in such an incredible publication. I had a lot of fun working on this exciting project with Silver Magazine and cannot thank them enough!

 

silver magazine

Cover photograph by Jack Alterman – Flight of Fancy Charleston Rice Spoon by Kaminer Haislip and Blue Baskets by Leigh Magar

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silver magazine

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silver magazine

silver magazine

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silver magazine

Garden & Gun Magazine – April/May 2023 Issue

garden & gun magazine

Garden & Gun magazine highlighted in their 2023 April/May issue Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, the collaborative exhibition that includes silversmith Kaminer Haislip and indigo textile artist Leigh Magar. The exhibition will be on display at Aiken Center for the Arts in historic downtown Aiken, South Carolina March 30-May 3, 2023. Visit Kaminer’s website Blog for details.

garden & gun magazine

garden & gun magazine aiken sc

Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver Exhibition – Aiken, South Carolina

indigo and silver

Silver Nest Bowl by Kaminer Haislip and Boo Hag Blue Indigo Baskets by Leigh Magar
Photograph by Jack Alterman

Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver

March 30, 2023 – May 3, 2023

Artworks by Kaminer Haislip and Leigh Magar

Aiken Center for the Arts
122 Laurens Street SW
Aiken, South Carolina

Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver brought together three contemporary artists—a silversmith, textile designer, and photographer—and a curator in 2018 at City Gallery located in Charleston, SC. Curator Brandy Culp worked with Jack Alterman, Kaminer Haislip, and Leigh Magar to weave a story based on their artwork and the Lowcountry’s deep culture both past and present. Haislip and Magar are now bringing a second version of this exhibition to Aiken Center for the Arts situated in historic, downtown Aiken, SC.

This exhibition explores the intersection between the past and present while recognizing that ultimately contemporary art and craft must be rooted in its own time. Inextricably linked, indigo and silver are transformative as raw materials, imbued with symbolism that transcends time and cultures, and imbedded within the early cultural fabric of the Carolina Lowcountry. Although inspired by Charleston’s cultural heritage, each artist brings unique contemporary perspective and original artwork to the exhibition. Interwoven will include silver hollowware, flatware and jewelry, textile art, and artist renderings.

Kaminer Haislip is the only practicing silversmith in Charleston that continues to employ traditional metalworking techniques and tools that have been used for centuries. As a contemporary silversmith, she is inspired by as well as carrying forth the city’s long-standing silversmithing tradition—the silver and metals manufacturing trade was vital to Charleston’s economy from the eighteenth through the early-twentieth centuries. With a nod to the past, she is most inspired by today’s domestic rituals and enhancing daily life through the creation of functional handcrafted objects that are entirely contemporary in form.

Additionally, Haislip received an artist grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission for a film project about her silversmithing. A television screen in the gallery will have the videos playing for the visitors to view. In the films, Haislip demonstrates traditional silversmithing techniques, such as how to make a silver bowl and silver serving spoon, and discusses her work in detail. This engaging educational element will enhance the viewer’s experience of the exhibition and illustrate silversmithing in an exciting way.

Milliner turned textile artist, Leigh Magar has established a small-batch label that combines art, fashion, history, and performance. The “Seed to Stitch” project was inspired by her sea island home’s Indigo history; both rich and tangled. The story of a young girl; Eliza Lucas Pinckney who had the vision of planting indigo and with the work of the enslaved, it was made into a cash crop in South Carolina during the mid 1700s. She interweaves design and nature with her local garden where indigo is grown and then used to create one-of-a-kind collections. Her work includes hand-dyed and hand-stitched garments and goods, textile art, and installations. Magar is inspired by traditional and simple sewing techniques, such as quilt making, rag quilting, and hand sewn-textiles, which she interlaces with contemporary, non-traditional elements.

In addition, Haislip, and Magar will create a collaborative installation for the exhibition inspired by the silhouette and miniature—art forms with long-standing Lowcountry traditions. Providing a modern look at historically significant mediums, these artists are transforming materials important to Charleston’s cultural fabric into contemporary art and inspiring appreciation of waning craft traditions among future generations. Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver will be a unique showing of silver and textile art as it relates the theme of indigo and silver.

Opening Reception – Thursday, March 30 from 6-8pm

Aiken Center for the Arts will host an opening reception for Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver on Thursday, March 30 from 6-8pm. It will be a great opportunity for the public to meet the artists in person and talk to them in the gallery with their artworks.

Stories from the Big Chair – Friday, March 31 from 6-8pm

Friday, March 31 engage with the exhibition during a free wine reception from 6-6:30pm in the main gallery and the power and craft of storytelling beginning at 6:30pm in the upstairs Brown Pavilion. Limited seating for storytelling, reserve your chair for $10 on Aiken Center for the Arts’ website. Join the guest speakers as they share perspectives, build points of connection, and unearth the wisdom and inspiration amongst us. Exploring the meaning of “Interwoven” from their perspectives will be Kaminer Haislip, silversmith, Madame Magar, indigo artist, and Dr. Walter Curry, local author and a mystery speaker.

Artist Lectures – Saturday, April 1 from 1-3pm

Lectures by artist Leigh Magar of the textile design studio Madame Magar and silversmith Kaminer Haislip will take place in the upstairs Brown Pavilion on Saturday, April 1, 2023 from 1pm-3pm.

Kaminer Haislip will present a lecture on the history of colonial Charleston silversmithing and how it relates to her contemporary silver designs. She will describe her handcrafted process in which she uses tools and techniques employed by silversmiths for centuries. Nationally recognized for her metalwork, Kaminer is the only silversmith practicing in Charleston. Inspired by Charleston’s long-standing silversmithing tradition, she feels compelled to carry it forth.

Madame Magar will present a lecture about her work and indigo farm that is inspired by nature, art, and history. She will talk about the rich yet tangled South Carolina indigo history that inspired her “seed to stitch” design philosophy and Madame Magar Blue School. Leigh will discuss her thought provoking, out of the box, one of a kind collections that intertwine art installations and performance with her design studio and shop.

For additional information on the exhibition, events, and programs visit www.aikencenterforthearts.org.

 

South Carolina Arts Commission

This project is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This project is also funded in part by a generous award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of The Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.

Silver and Indigo Charleston Exhibition Lecture – September 8, 2018

silver and indigo

 

Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver Exhibition Lecture

Saturday, September 8 at 2pm

Works by Kaminer Haislip, Leigh Magar, and Jack Alterman

Curated by Brandy S. Culp

August 25, 2018 – October 7, 2018

City Gallery
34 Prioleau Street
Charleston, South Carolina

The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, on view at City Gallery through October 7, 2018. This exhibition features approximately 60 works by three contemporary Lowcountry artists who explore indigo and silver as both conceptual inspiration and materials of handicraft. Silversmith Kaminer Haislip, textile designer Leigh Magar, and photographer Jack Alterman exhibit independent pieces as well as collaborative installations in media ranging from silver hollowware, flatware and jewelry to textile art, portraiture, and photography. The exhibition was curated by Brandy S. Culp, Richard Koopman Curator of Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, who has worked closely with these artists over a two-year period.

An artists’ talk will be held at City Gallery on Saturday, September 8 at 2 p.m. Both the gallery and lecture are free and open to the public.

Silver and Indigo Exhibition Opening + New Designs

silver and indigo exhibition

Silver Rice Spoon by Kaminer Haislip and Boo Hag Blue Indigo Baskets by Leigh Magar
Photograph by Jack Alterman

Silver and Indigo Exhibition Opening + New Designs

Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver exhibition opens to the public this evening, Friday, August 24, with a reception at City Gallery from 5-7pm. See below post for details on this Charleston silver and indigo exhibition and the Press page on this website for publicity. An artists’ lecture will take place at City Gallery Saturday, September 8 from 2-3pm. Both events and the gallery are free and open to the public.

Kaminer Haislip’s silver objects and jewelry exhibited in Interwoven is for sale. Purchases can be made by going to the Interwoven Exhibition Shop category on this website or by emailing info@kaminerhaislip.com. To view the pieces in the exhibition, visit the Interwoven Exhibition Portfolio category on this website. Both categories are temporary and will only be up for the exhibition duration.

Interwoven will be on view August 25-October 7, 2018. Do not miss this rare chance to see Kaminer’s silver objects and jewelry in person! Her fine art exhibitions mainly take place in the northeast and in museums around the country. It is extremely uncommon for her large scale hollowware to be seen in Charleston due to the lack of contemporary craft and design venues. We hope you will not pass up this extraordinary opportunity!

Kaminer’s website has been updated with her latest designs created specifically for Interwoven. Visit the Interwoven Exhibition categories mentioned above to view the artworks in the exhibition and to make purchases. Also, visit her Home and Jewelry Shop categories for additional new designs that are not in the exhibition.

Rio Grande

 

A wholesale supplier to jewelers and metalsmiths since 1944, Rio Grande is proud to sponsor the work of acclaimed silversmith Kaminer Haislip in Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver.

 

 

Kaminer Haislip’s involvement in this exhibition is funded also in part by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs and the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Program, through their joint administration of the Lowcountry Quarterly Arts Grant Program, and by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation.

Charleston City Paper – August 2018

Charleston City Paper featured on August 15, 2018 Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, the collaborative exhibition that includes artists Kaminer Haislip, Leigh Magar, Jack Alterman, and curator Brandy Culp. Chase Quinn wrote the wonderful Charleston City Paper article below. The exhibition will be on display at the City Gallery in historic downtown Charleston, SC August 25-October 7, 2018. Visit Kaminer’s website Blog for details.

charleston city paper

Making the past present at City Gallery’s Interwoven exhibit

All That Glitters

By Chase Quinn

silver and indigo baskets

 

As Southern Living extolls, “The Good Silver is a Southern stalwart.” Indeed, one automatically pictures immaculate tea sets and monogrammed flatware passed down generation after generation, of the sort you might find on display at the Charleston Museum. On the other side of the silver coin, there’s the stock and lash of chattel slavery, required to extract the indigo that lined the pockets of wealthy planters and set the table, so to speak, for standards of wealth and culture.

It’s a history of which Brandy S. Culp, the Richard Koopman Curator of Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Conn. and guest curator of the City Gallery’s upcoming exhibit Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, is well aware. The exhibit, she explains, is “ultimately about layers of history and meaning, and how we find meaning in materials.” The show will feature three artists heavily influenced by Charleston history and culture including silversmith Kaminer Haislip, textile designer Leigh Magar, and photographer Jack Alterman.

The project began two years ago when Haislip, one of the few formally-trained silversmiths practicing in Charleston, and Magar, known for her “seed to stitch” project, which takes indigo grown in her own garden and uses it to create hand-dyed and hand-stitched garments and goods, approached Culp.

“They wanted me to guest curate this exhibit, so we started with discussions of silver and indigo and how they related.”

With her rich background in the history of decorative arts, Culp explains that indigo and silver were both highly prized as raw materials throughout the ages, globally traded as commodities, and historically transformed by artisans into objects of desire.

“There’s a lot of commonality between these two as raw materials,” she says, “So what these artists have done is they are looking at these two transformative and symbolically imbued mediums and exploring how people actually shaped resources that, in turn, influenced society.”

In fact, it is South Carolina’s own Eliza Lucas Pinckney, the 16-year-old daughter of a wealthy planter, who is credited with first introducing and successfully cultivating indigo in the American colonies in 1742. Long before the ubiquity of today’s blue jeans, at the time, indigo dye was rare and expensive. Like silver, it was a symbol of status and wealth. In the two decades after its introduction, indigo would become one of the colony’s largest exports, second only to rice. That also led to a spike in the importation of enslaved labor to carry out the challenging and time-intensive process of extracting the dye, which could involve pounding the plant for up to 20 hours.

The title of the show, Interwoven, however, refers not only to this shared history and symbolism, but also to how the past and present are worked into the artists’ contemporary interpretations of these mediums. Culp explains, for example, that while Magar and Haislip have collaborated on a number of pieces for the exhibit that meld the elements of indigo and silver, they will also be displaying individual works. For Haislip, that means giving visitors, far removed from the processes of metalwork, the experience of how she forms and forges her pieces, which, while heavily influenced by tradition, are completely contemporary in their design.

“In today’s society, so many people look at her work and think that it must be cast, or that it’s fabricated,” says Culp. “She is a traditional silversmith still using a lot of the tools and the processes that people have been using for hundreds of years.”

Alterman, a Charleston native perhaps best known for his diverse portraits that capture the city’s many faces, was brought in to tie the whole story together. Through his photography, he will not only document the work on display, but will also have a series of portraits of other local artisans directly or indirectly connected to the craftmanship of indigo and silver.

In addition to the label copy that will provide some historical context for the role Africans and African Americans played in the production of indigo and silver, Culp indicates that Alterman’s contribution is also important because his portraits showcase contemporary African-American artists working in or connected to these mediums as well, including Jonathan Green and Arianne King Comer.

“This exhibit is not a comprehensive look at the subject of indigo and silver,” she acknowledges. “It’s a very specific look at these materials through the eyes of three artists. There are so many talented people that are both metalworkers and textile artists involved in indigo.”

To get a full picture of this interweaving narrative, Culp also recommends that audiences attend the artist talk, which will take place on Sept. 8 at 2 p.m., where the exhibitors will be on hand to discuss the most important stories in their work and to take audience questions.

Charleston Magazine – August 2018

Charleston Magazine highlighted in their August issue Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, the collaborative exhibition that includes artists Kaminer Haislip, Leigh Magar, Jack Alterman, and curator Brandy Culp. The exhibition will be on display at the City Gallery in historic downtown Charleston, SC August 25-October 7, 2018. Visit Kaminer’s website Blog for details.

charleston magazine august 2018

charleston magazine august 2018

American Craft Magazine – August/September 2018

American Craft magazine highlighted in their August/September issue Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, the collaborative exhibition that includes artists Kaminer Haislip, Leigh Magar, Jack Alterman, and curator Brandy Culp. The exhibition will be on display at the City Gallery in historic downtown Charleston, SC August 25-October 7, 2018. Visit Kaminer’s website Blog for details.

american craft magazine

american craft magazine

Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver Exhibition – Charleston, SC

indigo and silver

Silver Nest Bowl by Kaminer Haislip and Boo Hag Blue Indigo Baskets by Leigh Magar
Photograph by Jack Alterman

Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver

Works by Kaminer Haislip, Leigh Magar, and Jack Alterman

Curated by Brandy S. Culp

City Gallery
34 Prioleau Street
Charleston, South Carolina

August 25, 2018 – October 7, 2018
Opening Reception August 24 from 5-7pm
Artist Lecture September 8 from 2-3pm

The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, on view at City Gallery August 25 through October 7, 2018. This exhibition features approximately 60 works by three contemporary Lowcountry artists who explore indigo and silver as both conceptual inspiration and materials of handicraft. Silversmith Kaminer Haislip, textile designer Leigh Magar, and photographer Jack Alterman will exhibit independent pieces as well as collaborative installations in media ranging from silver hollowware, flatware and jewelry to textile art, portraiture, and photography. The exhibition is curated by Brandy S. Culp, Richard Koopman Curator of Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, who has worked closely with these artists over a two-year period.

City Gallery will host an opening reception for the exhibition on Friday, August 24 from 5-7 p.m. An artists’ talk will be held on September 8 at 2 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

An interdisciplinary showing of indigo and silver as they relate to contemporary craft, Interwoven brings together three artists who are deeply influenced by Charleston’s cultural heritage. For centuries, indigo and silver have been highly prized commodities among various cultures and the objects created from these raw materials are infused with symbolism and significance. Indigo and silver were essential to the early history of the Carolina Lowcountry—one a product that generated wealth, the other a literal display of this capital, and both integrally tied to enslaved labor. Works such as Haislip’s rice spoons, Magar’s rag quilting, and Alterman’s portraits demonstrate the artists’ profound appreciation of history and place, acknowledging complex, intertwined legacies.

“Providing a modern look at historically significant mediums, these artists are transforming materials important to the city’s history into contemporary art,” Culp says. “Through this project, the artists and I hope to create a dynamic and innovative exhibition that celebrates current design in Charleston as well as inspiring appreciation of waning craft traditions.” While compelled by Charleston’s rich and diverse heritage surrounding indigo and silver, each of the artists brings a unique, contemporary perspective to the exhibition.

Nationally recognized for her metalwork, Kaminer Haislip is one of few formally trained silversmiths practicing in Charleston. Her work was most recently highlighted in the Museum of the City of New York’s exhibition New York Silver: Then and Now. Inspired by Charleston’s long-standing silversmithing tradition, Haislip feels compelled to carry it forth. “Through my metalwork,” she explains, “I seek to enhance daily life by creating functional handcrafted objects that give a nod to the past but are entirely contemporary in form.” Hand-forging her flatware, hollowware, and jewelry, Haislip uses the very tools and techniques employed by silversmiths for centuries. Interwoven features nearly 30 of her handcrafted objects, as well as several hand-drawn designs and select forms in progress, all to illuminate the art of the silversmith.

Milliner turned textile artist Leigh Magar has established a small-batch label that combines art, fashion, history, and performance. Her “indigo seed to stitch” project was inspired by Eliza Lucas Pinckney, who brought this cash crop to the Carolina Lowcountry in the mid-1700s. Magar interweaves design and nature with her local garden, where indigo is grown and then used to create contemporary hand-dyed, hand-stitched garments, goods, and textile art. Interwoven highlights Magar’s wide range of indigo-dyed textile artworks, including items rooted in traditional quilt making and rag quilting as well as those which feature contemporary, non-traditional elements.

A native of Charleston and an award-winning photographer, Jack Alterman has participated in numerous multimedia exhibitions and one-man shows. With a new photography series focusing on color, texture, and creation, Alterman conceptually explores indigo and silver through portraits of local artists who are influenced by or who directly work with these materials. This series complements Magar’s indigo and quilted portraits of key figures, such as musician Nina Simone and Eliza Lucas Pinckney. “When I began this collaboration with an indigo artist and a silversmith, my thoughts were mainly focused on the raw materials with which they worked,” Alterman says. “Then I expanded my vision to capture a wide variety of contemporary artists [in Charleston] who are influenced by the shades and textures of indigo and silver. They are each unique, but all are connected by this time, this place and their use of indigo and silver as they seek to capture our unique culture.”

This exhibition has been organized and curated by Brandy S. Culp. The project is funded in part by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs and the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department through their joint administration of the Lowcountry Quarterly Arts Grant Program, and by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina. Additional support has been provided by Rio Grande, a wholesale supplier to jewelers and metalsmiths since 1944.

City Gallery, located at Joe Riley Waterfront Park, is owned by the City of Charleston and operated by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, presenting an annual program of exhibitions and events featuring the finest contemporary art from local, regional, national and international artists, with a focus on the Lowcountry. City Gallery provides access to the visual arts for everyone in Charleston, visitors and residents alike, by offering exhibits that are all admission-free.

City Gallery is located at 34 Prioleau St. in downtown Charleston, and gallery hours of operation are 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday as well as 12 p.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information and holiday closures, visit www.charleston-sc.gov/citygallery or call 843-958-6484.

 

Rio Grande

 

A wholesale supplier to jewelers and metalsmiths since 1944, Rio Grande is proud to sponsor the work of acclaimed silversmith Kaminer Haislip in the “Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver” exhibition.