It all starts with a story. That’s the premise behind elk & HAMMER, an online gallery featuring a global collective of artisans and makers redefining what it is to live and work, finding a symbiosis between the two in a manner both new and very, very old.

After jewelry designer, blacksmith, knife-maker, and gallery founder Ashley Childs produced her final jewelry collection, she followed a passion years in the making and launched elk & HAMMER. The innovative online gallery connects artists with one another and their respective artforms, those artforms with an audience, and that audience with a story. “We are a world of one-click shopping, everything fast and faceless,” says Childs. “But to pick up a knife every morning and butter your bread is an experience, made even more lovely when that butter knife was hand-forged by a blacksmith who spent decades refining their craft, whose story you know, whose face you’ve seen. That is a beautiful thing.”

elk & HAMMER currently features a growing body of work from sculptors, ceramicists, designers, painters, metalsmiths, and more. Each addition to the gallery represents another story in an ever-evolving tome exalting both the maker and the made. One of those makers is Childs’ oldest friend and mentor, Steve Schwarzer, a hall-of-fame bladesmith who has spent the past 50 years learning from those that came before, honing his craft, and redefining the art of mosaic Damascus steel.

U.K. leather worker and designer Otis Ingrams is similarly inspired by the godfathers of his craft and design vernacular. Ingrams established OTZI Studios in 2013 and has since been carefully handcrafting distinctive British, Spanish, and Italian utility goods.

Otis Ingrams, two Quarto Leather Baskets in tan and black. Photo by Mitchell D. Cohen

T.A.G. (Tom) Smith taught himself the deep-rooted art of intarsia as a teenager, slowly curating the craft into a unique celebration of the feathers and fowl he has loved just as long. Smith’s hanging wooden sculptures marry the natural artistry of wood grain with his own brand of inspired vision.

Genso and Asemi Co.—two Japanese enterprises connecting Bizen pottery with households worldwide—showcase the finest in traditional Japanese craftsmanship and the range of makers reimagining its centuries-old presence for the contemporary world.

Contemporary design innovation is at the heart of British luxury brand founder and creative director Tom Dixon’s vision. An industry maverick since the 1980s, Dixon’s furniture, lighting, and accessories aim to demonstrate the transformative nature of art in utilitarian contexts.

Whether it’s fine jewelry from Kabana or Kurtulan, knives and tools from Banshu Hamono or Messermeister, Kindrie Grove’s bronze sculptures or Nest Homeware’s cast iron kitchenware, the elk & HAMMER gallery hopes to offer an evocative, globally-informed collection that inspires presence and connection with shared stories of everyday life, through traditions dating back to humanity’s inception.

Visit elkandhammer.com to view the gallery and follow them on Instagram @elkandhammer.

You can also find more stories and videos on elk & HAMMER’s Vimeo and YouTube.

Steve Schwarzer, mosaic Damascus gentleman’s folders with gold lip pearl, with canister mosaic Damascus Wharncliffe blades. All photos by Ashley Childs unless otherwise specified

T.A.G. (Tom) Smith of the U.K., “Great Grey Owl Tail Feather” in ash, walnut, sycamore, and Swiss pear wood

Genso, Sangiri and Goma mugs, cups, and Saki cup

Tom Dixon, Brass Bash Bowl & Tray and Large Aluminum Cloud Bowl

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Discover a Global Collective of Artisans and Makers at elk & HAMMER appeared first on Colossal.

Celia Rickson looked to her hometown of San Francisco to develop an imaging solution to pinpoint vulnerable infrastructure. Lee Schoneman’s exploration of DNA and its structures may contribute to demystifying the growth of cancerous cells.

Both students were part of RIT’s 32nd annual Undergraduate Research Symposium on Aug. 3. More than 158 students presented research discoveries conducted over the past spring and summer. Poster sessions and oral presentations were on display throughout the day featuring students from all of RIT’s colleges. Topics illustrated how students bridge technology and creativity in the areas of biochemistry, environmental issues, alternative materials, imaging solutions, and social and public policy, and more.

Bridging technology and creativity at RIT helped Andrew Sevigny ’19 (motion picture science) launch a successful career. The symposium keynote speaker combined interests in film and video production with imaging and digital cinema technologies as an undergraduate.

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Carlos Ortiz

Keynote speaker Andrew Sevigny ’19 (motion picture science) is chief operating officer and co-founder of Mountain House Media, a local digital media production company with regional and national clients.

“I loved art, but also loved the tech side of performance. In college I wanted to bridge both of these,” said Sevigny, who was able to combine these interests at RIT where he began undergraduate work in software engineering before transferring into the motion picture science program. “I learned both the scientific aspects of capturing images and the creative, but I wanted to go further.”

He found those challenges through experiences with RIT’s Tech Crew, SportsZone and at MAGIC Spell Studios, where work ranged from supporting theatrical and sporting events at the university to being involved in new media projects exploring new broadcast technology to working with marketing companies to produce commercials and other media assets.

After graduation, Sevigny and Jeremiah Gryczka ’19 (applied arts and sciences) co-founded Mountain House Media that was housed early on at MAGIC, and has expanded to a new site in Penfield, N.Y. It is recognized as one of the area’s top media production companies providing state-of-the art virtual productions with cinematic robotics and generative AI.

“Creating an immersive environment—it is that next level of wow,” said Sevigny, who encouraged the students to challenge themselves, grow their ideas, and find creative ways to problem solve.

Rickson, a third-year applied mathematics major in RIT’s College of Science sought to address a problem found in her home state of California by mapping complex systems through the project “Multilayer infrastructure networks and vulnerabilities in the San Francisco Bay area.”

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Carlos Ortiz

Celia Rickson, a fourth-year applied mathematics student, developed an imaging system to pinpoint vulnerable infrastructure systems.

“How important is one node if it is removed and what is the impact on other areas if people need to evacuate?” she said.

By sharing significant infrastructure elements in a city, such as gas lines, public and private transportation avenues and water resources, and overlaying each with different seismic hazard zones, she was able to show vulnerabilities at intersecting nodes. Understanding where these critical infrastructure elements cross can help in resiliency and recovery solutions in the event of an earthquake in the Bay Area, or other natural disasters.  

Schoneman, a third-year biochemistry student in the College of Science, from Green Bay, Wis., looked at smaller, but equally intricate connections in her work with DNA. She described the G-Quadruplex containing stacks of bound guanines like different floors of the DNA strand and how understanding how to bind a complex structure onto DNA might provide new information about gene regulation and possible repair functions.

“I love the puzzle-solving aspect of this work,” she said.

More information about the event can be found online with the list of participants, their colleges, topics, and faculty advisors.