Meet Renaissance Woman Lindsay Miś

For an artist for whom line is a favorite design element, details such as a signature, with its curves and the drama it reveals, the different pressures of the writer’s hand, the personality in the strokes of ink, can delight the creative soul.

“People don’t appreciate handwriting anymore,” says Lindsay Miś (rhymes with “quiche”). It’s what she thinks of when she is forging sculpture or jewelry, looking for “that dramatic support, that elegant line.” And, in a sense, she is forging an identity onto the piece, controlling the metal’s transformation with hammer blows and an anvil. It is also the title of a forging workshop she will teach at Metalwerx March 7-8.

Lindsay Mis sketchbook

Sketches Containing Influences

When not producing sculpture that ultimately becomes the star of a video, or jewelry that incorporates fine jewels, found objects, or recycled books, Lindsay works as exhibition manager at New Bedford Art Museum/Artworks!. A year ago, the 18-year-old museum joined forces with the popular local arts group called ArtWorks!, blending first-quality exhibitions with an already-established program for art education and outreach.

Her roles are many. She looks for exhibits that can provide a tie-in to educational programs, considers proposals for future shows, manages twelve shows a year, including four main draws and smaller exhibits that rotate every four to eight weeks, all while simultaneously gearing up for the next show that is always around the corner.

Lindsay Mis Fake Empire

Fake Empire

“It’s a lot to do for such a simple title. It’s an amazing experience, and I love my job,” she said. When designing a space for a show, she keeps in mind the visitor’s encounter with the work. It’s a practice she takes back to her own work. “How do I make the artwork an interesting experience and not just a wallflower?” she said.

Lindsay Mis necklace 1

Necklace (photo by Richard Gormley; model Kelly Conroy).

Lindsay has another “lucky job” on the side. Twice a year, Lindsay works with the Austrian crystal company Swarovsky to style and photograph their latest jewelry lines at their Rhode Island company, called Touchstone. Lindsay has seen the academic side of jewelry (she has an MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth), spent years in the fine jewelry industry, and now gets to witness the inside workings of a marketing campaign with a global scope.

She can spend hours styling a single piece of jewelry to ensure the spotlight is always on the work, sometimes letting gravity do its job to make the piece suspend naturally and always avoiding props that might take the viewer’s attention elsewhere.

“It’s great to hear conversations about design, to see them work on an international level, and how to get local designers turn a piece on their bench in Pawtucket to mass production in China,” she said.

All of these skills will come into play when Lindsay and Kelly Jean Conroy, another Metalwerx instructor, jury a competition they designed for a SOFA-like exhibition fair that goes up during the SNAG convention, to be held May — 2015 in Boston at the Boston Park Plaza hotel. Entitled “Adorned Spaces,” curators, organizations, schools, and individuals are invited to submit proposals for a multi-exhibit pop-up space that celebrate the innovation of metalsmithing that “looks back and forges forward.” The show is one of the highlighted events of the SNAG 2015 conference. “This is a time for an artist to have a breakthrough,” she said. “They could be discovered!”

Lindsay Mis necklace 2

Necklace

Click on the link to learn more about Lindsay’s workshop at Metalwerx, “Forging Identities,” March 7-8. Students will learn how to shape and draw down wire (elongate and taper) through hammering, annealing, and soldering, and is for beginners. The techniques in this class are applicable to jewelry, sculpture, and other objects. Contact Metalwerx for more information at 781-891-3854.

Lindsay Mis Forged Bracelets