D'LISA CREAGER
Artist Statement
It all began when my kindergarten painting of Apollo 7 was selected for national exhibition. This small event so many years ago set me off on a creative journey that would last a lifetime. While my formal education and career have taken me in other directions, my creative passion is working with wire to create sculpture and jewelry.
The technique I use is commonly known as “Viking Knit” which is an ancient wire weaving technique originally used by the Nordics to create exquisite ornamentation. Since the Nordic times, many cultures around the world have made similar creations using this and similar techniques to produce everything from fine jewelry to storage vessels. Such was the case with villagers in Toluca Mexico in the 1940’s who taught Ruth Asawa how to make baskets out of wire. Those baskets evolved into the Ruth Asawa hanging sculptures so admired for their simple shapes and modern form to this day.
I learned how to make wire sculptures from the daughter of Ruth Asawa, Aiko Cuneo, who held a workshop at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles where her mother’s work was on exhibition in 2007. At that time, I was working with wire to make jewelry and was naturally drawn to the workshop. That workshop encouraged and inspired me to explore translating small scale jewelry designs into large scale wire sculpture. Since that time, I have combined my love of jewelry design and wire work to create large scale intricate sculptures that compliment my smaller works.
Each piece evolves – it is not calculated or planned. Rather, each represents an intriguing and unique journey. My current work explores working with multiple layers allowing one to see the complexity below the surface.
The technique I use is commonly known as “Viking Knit” which is an ancient wire weaving technique originally used by the Nordics to create exquisite ornamentation. Since the Nordic times, many cultures around the world have made similar creations using this and similar techniques to produce everything from fine jewelry to storage vessels. Such was the case with villagers in Toluca Mexico in the 1940’s who taught Ruth Asawa how to make baskets out of wire. Those baskets evolved into the Ruth Asawa hanging sculptures so admired for their simple shapes and modern form to this day.
I learned how to make wire sculptures from the daughter of Ruth Asawa, Aiko Cuneo, who held a workshop at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles where her mother’s work was on exhibition in 2007. At that time, I was working with wire to make jewelry and was naturally drawn to the workshop. That workshop encouraged and inspired me to explore translating small scale jewelry designs into large scale wire sculpture. Since that time, I have combined my love of jewelry design and wire work to create large scale intricate sculptures that compliment my smaller works.
Each piece evolves – it is not calculated or planned. Rather, each represents an intriguing and unique journey. My current work explores working with multiple layers allowing one to see the complexity below the surface.
