Review

KU student mixes metalsmithing, crafts, and memories

Mollie Kathleen Blackburn, "The Honeymoon Years," metals, 3.5" x 6" (when stacked), 2010. Image: courtesy of the artist

Throughout Mollie Kathleen Blackburn’s life, one thing has been constant: She’s always been on the move.

Through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and now Lawrence, Kansas, where she is a graduate student in metals at the University of Kansas, Blackburn has lived in 17 different places in her life. Along the way, she’s picked up memories and relationships, storing them in the home of all homes — the heart.

As an artist, Blackburn channels her transient experiences. Her pieces are more than just works of art; they’re tiny keepsakes of the places she’s been and the people she’s known. After so many moves, Blackburn has learned to travel lightly, and you can see it in her work.

"That’s why I like the little pieces," she says. "You can carry them with you."

Blackburn has a knack for creating work that is intricately detailed and incredibly endearing. And much like a fond memory, her pieces can usually be deconstructed into several equally charming parts.

Blackburn’s most recent creations have been what she calls "stackable wearables" — palm-sized towers (Blackburn likens them to little wedding cakes) that can be broken down into multiple pieces of jewelry.

Her piece The Honeymoon Years is inspired by the period of time after her marriage, and is composed of three parts: "support," a brass bracelet at the base of the tower; "compromise," a broach in the middle; and "joy" a ring adorned with a silver silhouette of Blackburn and her husband, taken from a one-year anniversary photo.

In her work, Blackburn likes to juxtapose cutesy craft materials (such as fake grass from toy train sets, as seen on the broach in The Honeymoon Years) with beautiful, traditional metalsmithing materials.

Mollie Kathleen Blackburn graduates from the University of Kansas in May. Photo: courtesy of the artist

"There’s a big debate about what’s art and what’s craft," she says. "It amuses me to take craft materials and make fine art."

Blackburn also uses homemade plastic, which she makes from a mix using quirky-shaped 1950s Jell-o molds that once belonged to her grandmother.

Growing up, Blackburn had no plans to be an artist. In fact, she started her undergraduate career at Texas State University as a physical therapy major. Then, as a 19-year-old college sophomore, she was in a car accident that left her in a wheelchair for six months. After the accident, her father built her a workbench where, while recovering, she had a lot of time to develop her skill and love for making art.

Eight years later, Blackburn is finishing up her thesis work, which included a recent exhibition at the University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery. Blackburn says the works in her exhibition, Ardent Notions, which included several of her "stackable wearables," were based on home and family. As a homage to her transient past, Blackburn considered making a metal backpack to carry all of her work from the show with her.

After graduating in May, Blackburn’s plans for the future are open. She knows she wants to teach jewelry making and continue to show her own work, though she’s not sure where she will end up. But that’s fine with her.

"When an opportunity presents itself and feels true, I'll be there."

-re-

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