Photos courtesy of the Studios on High Gallery
Starting May 1 and running through the end of May, the Studios on High Gallery will showcase the work of master craftsmen Laura Jenkins Gorun and Mikelle Hickman-Romine in an exhibit titled Crafting Enchantment. The featured work is wearable collaborations between the two Columbus-based artists.
Jenkins Gorun, a woodworker, and Hickman-Romine, a jewelry maker, combine their craft to create a symbol of art and magic, and with Jenkins Gorun’s wood carvings meshed with Hickman-Romine’s bead and wire work, the final product becomes a talisman designed to bring blessings to the wearer.
“We have so little power in this world,” says Jenkins Gorun. “Wearable symbols of relationship, beliefs and hope are as old as human civilization.”
Hickman-Romine, who is based in Columbus, works not only with jewelry but with words as a poet, flowers and with silk. She creates hand-sewn custom wedding dresses, with which she combines with her beadwork to produce one-of-a-kind rustic dresses.
Jenkins Gorun is known for her lovespoons, intricately-designed wood spoons that were gifted from one person to another as a gift of romance. Jenkins Gorun’s lovespoons are so complex, twisting and symmetrical that they appear to be molded from clay rather than carved from wood. She brings that intricacy and experience to the Crafting Enchantment collaboration.
Jenkins Gorun and Hickman-Romine’s collaboration is inspired by and combined with personal history, prayers and their vast experience in their respective crafts to present the exhibit at the Studios on High Gallery.
Crafting Enchantment will run from May 1 until May 31 at the main gallery of the Studios on High Gallery. Meet the artists at the Gallery Hop on May 7 from 6-10 p.m. Admission to the event is free. To see more information, click here.
Amanda DePerro is assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
