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.
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 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.
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.
Helena Fox Fine Art in historic, downtown Charleston, SC
Photograph by Marie Rodriguez Photography
Helena Fox Fine Art represents my handcrafted silver designs and regularly carries a curated selection of my silver hollowware, flatware, home objects, and jewelry in their stunning historic, downtown Charleston art gallery.
They are hosting a special event featuring my artwork on Friday, December 2 from 5pm-8pm and Saturday, December 3 from 12pm-4pm. Our Friday event will be part of the downtown Charleston artwalk for the month of December and we are thrilled to participate.
I will exhibit a wider variety of my silver functional home objects, original jewelry designs, and Christmas ornaments than what the gallery usually shows during this festive holiday shopping event. I hope to see you there!
Helena Fox Fine Art
106A Church Street
Charleston, SC 29401
843-723-0073
Dawn Corley, also known as The Charleston Silver Lady, is an antiques historian and expert on silver. She will have a special showing of Kaminer Haislip’s contemporary silver objects and jewelry at her Lexington, South Carolina location on Thursday, December 8 from 4:30pm-6:30pm. In addition to Kaminer’s work, she will have on display antique objects and silver pieces from her own private collection.
The event will be hosted at 212 East Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072. Please use the side door as a private entrance. Parking is available for guests in a parking garage across the street as well as at a Counseling Center next door.
This festive holiday shopping event will be very shiny and bright!
I discuss it briefly in my Bio posted on my website, but I get the same question so often I decided to share more of my story on my Blog.
Kaminer Haislip working in her silversmithing studio
Aiken, South Carolina, which received Southern Living’s 2018 award for The South’s Best Small Town, is my hometown. I grew up in my family’s business True Value Hardware & Appliance, which is located on the main street of Aiken’s historic downtown. My grandfather Bill Franklin started the hardware store as a side project when he was an accountant at Savannah River Site. When my parents Det and Lyanne Haislip were married, my father took over the business.
True Value Hardware & Appliance in historic downtown Aiken, SC
As children, my brother Wylie, cousins Anne and Franklin, and I spent a lot of time there, especially at Christmas. As you can see in the picture below, we had so much fun with the toys, go carts, and window displays!
Kaminer with her brother and cousins in the hardware store as children in the 1980’s
In high school, I worked in the hardware store and that is when my interest began in making sculpture and jewelry. Being around all of the tools and equipment, putting together bikes and toys, and cutting keys is now an obvious connection to how working with my hands became my career.
True Value newspaper feature from 1990’s
When I was in high school, I took the industrial tech class, because I wanted to learn how to make sculptures in metal and wood. Being the only girl in the class did not bother me at all and I took to learning welding and wood working immediately. One of my first wood sculptures is shown below. Displayed in a downtown Aiken park not far from my family’s business, it was my first artwork exhibited outside of a school setting.
Sculpture from high school in 1990’s
I knew by then I wanted to be a professional artist and major in jewelry and sculpture in college, so I sought out a college with a strong jewelry and sculpture program. After careful deliberation, I decided the small liberal arts college Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC would be the best fit for me. Alfred Ward, an English silversmith from London, was head of the jewelry and metals program and I was excited to study under such a renowned silversmith.
Silver and ebony wood spoon from undergraduate studies
The first functional silver object I made studying under Alf was the silver spoon with ebony wood handle shown above. This piece is significant to my work, because it was the first time I laminated silver and wood. I continue to use this method of fabrication for spoon, teapot and coffeepot handles, because it creates strength in the handle and a beautiful line of silver down the center.
Kaminer and her brother Wylie at her first gallery exhibition
From there I was hooked on silversmithing, because it combined my interest in jewelry techniques and sculptural forms. My graduation exhibition with my classmates in Charlotte, NC was my first commercial art gallery exhibit. Pictured above is me with my brother Wylie looking at one of my display cases at the opening reception. After graduating with my BFA in Jewelry and Metals, I moved to Charlotte and started my MFA silversmithing studies under Alf at Winthrop.
Kaminer and her professor Alf at Sir John Cass London Metropolitan University in London, England
While in graduate school, I focused on silversmithing and immersed myself in it completely. During that time, I also taught the Jewelry II and III classes and jewelry workshops at Winthrop. Additionally, I interned and was a docent at the Mint Museum, where I learned up close the history of craft and design and how a professional institution operates. During the summer of 2004, I went to London for a family trip and my MFA thesis research. Alf and his wife were in England visiting family, so he was kind enough to meet us in London and show us around. Pictured above is me with Alf in the stake room of Sir John Cass London Metropolitan University, where Alf was formerly head of the silversmithing and jewelry department.
Perched Flight silver and ebony wood teapot
In 2005 I graduated with my MFA in Silversmithing and Design with a minor in Sculpture. The first teapot I made was Perched Flight and it is silver with an ebony wood handle that is laminated with silver in the center. It was the central piece to my MFA thesis exhibition and after was accepted to five national exhibitions and one international exhibition. I became very attached to it, so it is now in me and my husband’s collection.
Immediately following graduation, I moved to Charleston, South Carolina and established my studio and business. Three years later my husband Matt and I had our wedding reception at the William Aiken House. My hometown was named for William Aiken and he is my great-great-great-great uncle.
Charleston Weddings Magazine feature – see full article on website Press page
My path to silversmithing began at a very young age, but it wasn’t until I started my business and began exhibiting my work nationally that people started asking me “How did you get into silversmithing?”. When I thought about it and shared my story, I realized how unusual it is for a girl to grow up in a small southern town hardware store and become a contemporary silversmith. Really?!
For less lengthy answers to frequently asked questions, visit my FAQ page on my website!
CHARLESTON, S.C. November 1, 2019—Helena Fox Fine Art is pleased to announce Classically Contemporary featuring artist Julyan Davis and silversmith Kaminer Haislip.
Opening reception during the First Friday Artwalk on November 1 from 5-8pm.
At the intersection of classic techniques and contemporary ideals we find artists Julyan Davis and Kaminer Haislip. Trained in centuries old techniques these two artist draw from their traditional art educations to create pieces which feel both classic and contemporary. From Julyan’s John Constable like paintings of the clouds over the Southern coast to Kaminer’s Georg Jensen like interpretation of the familiar oyster shell, these artists live and breath the history of their chosen mediums.
In his own words, Julyan Davis paints ‘for storytellers—novelists, songwriters, poets. I also paint for those who love history. There has always been a narrative thread in my work. Even when a scene was notably empty of incident, I have strived for a sense that something vital happened here, or that something will.’ The new body of work he will present for our November show continues his movement from strict plein air interpretation towards a more cerebral interpretations—a continuation of the stories told and re-told.
A true master silversmith, Kaminer Haislip studied her craft under internationally acclaimed English silversmith Alfred Ward. She knows historic and modern silver techniques and uses that knowledge to meld form and function into enchanting coffee pots which look as thought they could take flight at any moment or a functional yet funky appetizer fork—or as my momma would have called it a pickle fork. Her work is not only meant to be admired for its shape and beauty but it’s usefulness. For this show we will be highlighting her home collection as well as the oyster collection.
Join us Friday November 1, 2019 between 5-8pm to meet the artists and admire their new work.
Helena Fox Fine Art
106A Church Street
Charleston, SC 29401
843-723-0073
Art Mag, a publication publication focused on the arts in Charleston, SC, highlighted Kaminer Haislip’s silver hollowware vessel Gradual Erosion being included in the international silver exhibition Schoonhoven Silver Award. To learn more about this exhibition, visit the Blog on this website. Many thanks to Art Mag for such a lovely interview and feature!
by Emily Reyna
Charleston makes its way across the pond to Europe where local artist and silversmith Kaminer Haislip will exhibit her silver vessel, Gradual Erosion.
“It was an incredible honor to have my silver vessel, Gradual Erosion, selected for the international Schoonhoven Silver Award. The opportunity to share my silver work with a European audience in both Schoonhoven, The Netherlands and Freiberg, Germany is very much appreciated,” says Haislip. “It’s the second time my silver hollowware has been exhibited in this special silver exhibition, and it’s a wonderful compliment.”
The piece’s name is inspiration by natural erosion. “The vessel form was based on a mountain shape and the etched surface lines are my own artistic interpretation of the gradual linear disintegration. The erosion begins at the base of the vessel, so the center line is tapered in to portray the slow breakdown of the mountain over time. The concept of erosion relates to the passing of time, what is lost, and what is taken away,” Haislip explains.
Technique and craft are central to Haislip’s creative process when working with fine metals. “I crafted the vessel by fabricating sterling silver sheet, which was hammered over five different cast iron stakes to create the asymmetrical shape,” describes Haislip. “The linear surface design was drawn by hand and etched with nitric acid to create the erosion inspired texture. All aspects of the construction were done entirely by hand utilizing traditional silversmithing techniques.”
Gradual Erosion will be on view at the City and Mining Museum in Freiberg, Germany from June 29 – October 2019.
Visit Art Mag at the link below for this article and many more exciting articles about the arts in Charleston!
The international silver object (no jewelry) exhibition Schoonhoven Silver Award 2018, which Kaminer Haislip’s silver vessel Gradual Erosion is included, will travel to the City and Mining Museum in Freiberg, Germany. The exhibition began at The Netherlands Silver Museum and was on exhibition from December 2018 – May 2019.
The exhibition will be on display at the City and Mining Museum in Freiberg, Germany from June 29 – October, 2019. Learn more about their showing of this exceptional exhibition on their website.
Schoonhoven Silver Award 2018 includes a wide variety of silversmiths from all over the world and its goal was to inspire artists to test and explore the boundaries of their traditional art and craft. The Netherlands Silver Museum sought objects that bear a direct relationship with the museum’s policy of stimulating the exploration of new technologies and uses, and innovative art forms. Innovation, as envisioned in the Award’s present edition, centers on the rejuvenation of past, time-honored techniques and on the preservation of this heritage through injecting dynamic new life into the art of silversmithing.
The international Schoohnoven Silver Award exhibition began in 2001 and 2018 is the seventh edition of this unique silversmithing focused exhibition. Kaminer Haislip’s silver and ebony teapot Perched Flight was included in the 2009 exhibition Poetry in Silver, so she is excited and honored to exhibit again with her new silver vessel Gradual Erosion.
Gradual Erosion is currently available for sale, but will not be available for delivery until after the exhibition travels to two other European countries and ends in September 2019. Gradual Erosion will be returned to Kaminer Haislip after the exhibition and you can contact her directly for details at kaminer@kaminerhaislip.com.
To learn more about Gradual Erosion, visit its product page on this website’s Shop at https://www.kaminerhaislip.com/silver-art-jewelry-baby/gradual-erosion-silver/
Serving up silver spoons for this Blog post! Since silversmithing has become an obscure craft, I have decided to write a series of posts that feature various traditional silversmithing processes I use to create my silver designs. As often as I am asked how I make my pieces, I have come to realize how little most people know about silversmithing. I took my first jewelry and silversmithing course over twenty years ago, so it has become extremely normal to me since I have done it practically every day since then!
The majority of the time, people only see my finished works and not the process, so they have no idea the amount of time, labor and skill that goes into making them. Through sharing some of my silversmithing techniques, I hope to give some insight into what it takes to craft my functional works of art.
My journey to becoming a silversmith began long before my first college course and you can read about my background in detail on a former Blog post titled “How did you get into silversmithing?”. During my BFA studies at Winthrop University under Alfred Ward, an internationally acclaimed English silversmith, the first functional object I made was a silver spoon with laminated ebony handle. The spoon form has much significance to my functional work and I have continued to explore it since that first creation so many years ago. To view a selection of spoons I have made over the course of my career and the aforementioned first spoon visit my website Portfolio Spoons page.
As covered in my previous Blog post on my forged silver cheese knife, all of my objects begin as sterling silver sheet and wire. For hollowing and forming silver sheet into functional objects, I hammer it over steel stakes that are the precise curve I need for an item, such as a silver spoon. The stake is held in a sturdy steel vise as shown below.
I use a rawhide mallet to form the spoon bowl, because it does not stretch the silver or leave marks in the surface.
Once the spoon bowl shape is formed, I planish it with a steel hammer to set the form precisely and work harden the metal, so it has strength when used to serve food.
With the planishing technique I use small, light overlapping blows as shown up close below.
The planishing process is one of my favorite silversmithing techniques! It requires focus, rhythm, and precision to hammer around and around consistently over the entire surface. I really enjoy planishing my silver spoons, but a coffeepot or teapot is an extensive challenge that I so revel in!
The two spoons highlighted in this Blog post are from my Flight of Fancy Series in which the handle design was inspired by the shape of a bird’s wing. The serving spoon (first image) has a traditional serving spoon length handle, but the Charleston Rice Spoon has a longer handle. The silver Charleston Rice Spoon, derived from the English Stuffing Spoon, historically had a long handle. During the 18th and 19th centuries rice was an immensely important crop to Charleston’s economy and the rice spoon was created due to it. My contemporary design is based on the historic form and gives a nod to tradition while still looking forward.
Both spoon styles are very popular wedding gifts, so be sure to check them out in my website Shop Home category. A handcrafted silver spoon certainly serves a purpose when stylishly entertaining!
Brandy Culp, the Richard Koopman Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum, and I have recently given several lecture presentations on Charleston silver, so I was inspired to write a blog post discussing our unique collaboration. We have presented to private organizations and groups and last week we gave a lecture on Charleston silver for the American College of the Building Arts. The pictures in this post are from that event.
When Brandy and I collaborate on a Charleston silver lecture, we begin with her discussing colonial Charleston history and silversmithing. She is an expert in the decorative arts field and in particular metalwork. Brandy earned her Master of Arts degree with an emphasis in American decorative arts from the Bard Graduate Center. There she completed her thesis on the 18th century Charleston silversmith Alexander Petrie and the Carolina silver trade. The topic of metalwork remains one of her greatest interests, and she is currently working on a permanent exhibition of the Wadsworth’s English and American silver collections.
Brandy ties my contemporary silversmithing brilliantly to historic forms and processes. I discuss in detail how I design and create my original, silver designs and use tools and in progress silver items to illustrate the relationship between my silversmithing techniques and past silversmith practices. Additionally, I bring a selection of finished silver hollowware, flatware, and jewelry for attendees to see in person during the lecture and up close after our slide presentation is over.
We always save time for a question and answer session at the end of our lecture and spend time with guests after the event to take additional questions and socialize.
Brandy and I both are incredibly passionate about silver and very much enjoy sharing our silver knowledge. The combination of her historic metalwork expertise and my contemporary silver designs has been extremely well received each time we have done a presentation. If you are interested in having us speak to your group, organization, or college, then please email me at kaminer@kaminerhaislip.com. I can provide details, fees, and press material.
Thank you for your interest in silver!