Arline Fisch

Last updated
Arline Fisch
Born08/21/1931
Died08/20/2024
San Diego, California
NationalityAmerican
Known for Artist, Painting, Jewelry, Metalworking

Arline Fisch (born August 21, 1931) is an American artist and educator. She is known for her work as a metalsmith and jeweler, pioneering the use of textile processes from crochet, knitting, plaiting, and weaving in her work in metal. [2] She developed groundbreaking techniques for incorporating metal wire and other materials into her jewelry. [3]

Contents

Learning

Arline Fisch was born in Brooklyn, New York City [4] on August 21, 1931, and grew up in New York. She first was taught to sew by her mother, and made many of her own clothes. Her father later gave her lessons at Singer Sewing as a gift so that she and her mother would stop arguing about sewing. Fisch also picked up a passion for bright colors from her father, who loved red. [5]

Fisch studied at Skidmore College, receiving her B.S. in Art [4] in 1952. She received her M.A. in Art in 1954 from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, [6] :14 where she took classes in metalworking with Arthur J. Pulos. [7] [8]

After teaching drawing, painting, and design for two years at Wheaton College, [8] she traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, on a Fulbright Grant to study silversmithing. [6] :14 While there she was able to work in a large jewelry workshop at Bernhard Hertz Guldvaerefabrik, to develop her technical skills. [9] [7] She received three additional Fulbright grants, one to conduct further research in Denmark and two to lecture in Austria and Uruguay. [10]

She also attended and has taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts [11] [12] where she was introduced to weaving by Jack Lenor Larsen and Ted Hallman. [8] [5] By the 1960s she was beginning to "incorporate weaving in her jewelry" and think about "structuring metal in woven forms". [8] While in Denmark on her second Fulbright in 1966, she spent part of her time studying chasing at the Goldsmiths’ School (Guldsmedehøjskolen) in Copenhagen. [8]

Teaching

Fisch has taught at Wheaton College (1954–1956), Skidmore College (1957–1961), and San Diego State University (1961–2000). [9] [10] Fisch founded the San Diego State University program in Jewelry and Metalsmithing in 1961. [10] She retired in 2000, becoming Professor Emerita of Art at San Diego State University. [13]

Metalworking

Arline Fisch, Hat, 1976 Arline Fisch "Hat" from American Metal Work, 1976 p.14.png
Arline Fisch, Hat, 1976

Arline Fisch is best known for the way she handles metal in her pieces. She works with thin wire to create forms that have been manipulated in similar ways to knitted, woven or braided fabric. [14] [15] Fisch has exhibited extensively all over the world in group shows and solo exhibitions. [14] [9]

Her book, Textile Techniques in Metal for Jewelers, Textile Artists and Sculptors, is a demonstration of the techniques she developed while trying to combine the textures of weaving with a metal material. [15]

She has stated that jewelry of ancient cultures is a continued reference and inspiration for her work. [16] In the exhibition American Metal Work, 1976 at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, her sterling silver Hat was described as equally suited to a Byzantine princess, a modern bridal costume or an evening dress. [6] Her exhibit Creatures from the Deep created an underwater world of floating sea creatures, jellyfish, corals and sea anemones, knitted and crocheted from wire. Versions of this work were installed in 2008 at the Racine Art Museum, in 2011 at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, [2] and in 2013 at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco. [17]

Education

Honors and awards

Professional

Publications

Collections

Archives

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References

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