Interactive Lecture–Amulets, Talismans, & Reliquaries: The Power of Adornment and Significance of Found Objects as Material and Magic with artist and Professor Kendall Reiss

Saturday, March 9, 1:00-4:00pm, Members free, Nonmembers $12. ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR THIS PROGRAM. Call 978.598.5000 or click the REGISTER link below.

Throughout history, humans have been found to use a variety of found and manipulated materials to adorn themselves for purposes including religious worship, rites of passage, and as powerful symbols of protection for the wearer. Join artist and professor Kendall Reiss, and Museum of Russian Icons Registrar Laura Garrity-Arquitt for an engaging afternoon of close object-based exploration around themes of power, protection, religiosity, and found objects as material in art.
A presentation of examples of found object jewelry and adornments from a range of cultures and historical periods will offer context for the rest of the day’s discussions. Participants will be invited to closely observe a selection of objects from the Museum of Russian Icon’s permanent collection and hear from registrar Laura on these objects relationship to larger themes of found, discarded, and recycled materials in art.

The group will move into the West Gallery to view Konstantin Simun: The Sacred in the Profane, featuring sculptures by Russian born, Boston based artist Konstantin Simun whose found object works speak to this shifting materiality. Throughout the day, participants can make written observations on the objects, ideas, themes, and information that resonate with them individually. To close the afternoon, each participant will be invited to speak to the group about the connections and discoveries they have made while enjoying light refreshments in the auditorium.

In her work, artist Kendall Reiss focuses on two separate yet parallel modes of inquiry: the design and fabrication of contemporary jewelry alongside material experiments, which result in sculptural objects and time-based installations. A native of Bristol, Rhode Island, Kendall grew up exploring the rocky shoreline of Narragansett Bay. She attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA where she received a BS in Geology, which provided the visual training and hands-on approach she now uses to conduct and record her studio-based investigations. After studying at several prominent institutions including the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Kendall returned to school to combine her fascination with the natural world with the study of jewelry. In 2011, she received an MFA in Jewelry + Metalsmithing from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Visit her website here.