Held alongside our exhibition Nordic Echoes — Tradition in Contemporary Art, the first major traveling exhibition of contemporary Nordic artist traditions from the Upper Midwest, join us for a panel discussion with three featured in the show: Talon Cavender-Wilson, Elizabeth Belz and Jess Hirsch. With exhibition curator Sally Yerkovich, they’ll discuss their works in the show and their respective metalworking and woodworking practices.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Talon Cavender-Wilson is a Dakota man from the Upper Sioux Reservation in Minnesota. He spent five years in Sweden training in the traditional art of Scandinavian blacksmithing, earning a journeyman’s certificate in Artisanal Blacksmithing. Upon returning to Upper Sioux, he began his practice, focusing on sculptural and architectural work. He explores the boundaries between new mediums like ironwork within Dakota traditions, including questions such as: How can or should Dakota people take this new skill and make it their own? What is the difference between Dakota art and an artist who happens to be Dakota? What elements are ok to share with which audiences? He has a special love for traditional folklore and try to find the balance between traditional storytelling and modern sculpture.
Elizabeth Belz is a blacksmith, educator, the owner of Black Widow Forge and is the Blacksmithing and Metals Coordinator at John C. Campbell Folk School. She was the blacksmithing apprentice at the Metal Museum in Memphis, TN for two years where she trained under master smith Jim Masterson. Elizabeth was a craft education intern at North House Folk School, a resident artist with the Science Museum of MN, a Creative Catalyst fellow and has spent a lot of time at craft and folk schools across the country. Elizabeth has shown her work, competed, and taught blacksmithing throughout the United States and internationally and has most recently finished up a year long artist residency at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Elizabeth sits on the board of the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America the largest blacksmithing community non profit dedicated to preserving and advancing blacksmithing as both a profession and a hobby.
Jess Hirsch is a maker, sculptor, and educator living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the founder of Fireweed Community Woodshop, a space to empower women and marginalized genders through the art of wood craft. Hirsch, as a lover of trees, studies Sloyd (Scandinavian hand craft) as a method to connect with the landscape through fresh cut wood. When she is not making bowls or furniture, she is chasing her toddler through fields while gathering wild herbs for medicine.