Statement

Storytelling is one of the most important and human actions. Stories are how we understand the world, how we create identity, and how we connect to, entertain, and persuade each other. Yet we frequently overlook the stories in our lives. They seem mundane. The objects we use are branded and disposable, designed to tell a company’s story. From childhood we are taught by the media that stories are a commodity to be sold. But stories are essential to being human, and they are not a limited resource but communal playgrounds of imagination that we use to explore and understand existence. They should have a presence in our everyday lives and objects.

My work, frequently functional and wearable, seeks to enrich the lives of those who interact with it by telling or helping them tell stories. Through dense, small decoration that draws on iconography and narrative elements from medieval Europe, fairytales, and pop culture, I invite the wearer to spend time unraveling meaning from the image. I work primarily in metal because of its durability and rich history of use in tools, art, and wearable objects. It also allows me to impart value through precision and fine detail. The element of everyday functionality allows my art to exist in and interact with many aspects of life, allowing the wearer to come back back time and again to discover how the story, as linked to the context of their life, has grown or changed.

Bio

Patrick McMichael (b. 1989) was born as Patricia McMichael to a couple of engineers who also happened to be fantasy nerds. In 2016 he graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Craft and Material Studies. He works in metal making ornate, but functional, items and jewelry. His work plays with the line between the fantastical and real. Rich detail and intriguing iconography invite the user to reflect on the possibilities for storytelling and imagination to create identity and shape the way they see daily life.