Kristyn Cooper

Kristyn Cooper graduated with Distinction from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design earning a Diploma in Fine Craft (Jewellery/Metal Arts). Since then she has accumulated an array of awards and honors such as the inclusion of her work in the Canadian Pavilion at the Cheongju International Craft Biennale in South Korea.

Cooper loves the feel of heirloom and antique objects and seeks to capture that special quality in her work. Lockets are among her favorite objects to fabricate. They allow her to blend traditional ideas with contemporary designs.

She currently teaches metalsmithing at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design where she helps students of all levels develop personal relationships with metal.

Artist Statement: Curio Lapel Pins

I have spent most of my career as a Metalsmith and Jeweller training to master detailed techniques, fabricating with precision and fastidiousness, and using precious materials to create ‘valuable’ objects.

This small series of pins is part of a larger body of work which was borne from the desire to go back to basics and explore simple materials.  It has been a treat to relax my process and rediscover what it means to ‘play’ with metal.  The use of humble copper and nontraditional color application has refreshed my excitement for my practice and has found me once again crafting objects simply for ‘art’s sake’.

These small, odd, wearable objects are inspired by items that we find on walks in the forest and on the shores of the places we live and visit.  Often natural and beautiful, always weathered and discarded, sometimes alien and thought provoking.