"Visually, one of my favourite things as an artist is an object or image with very high contrast in it’s colouring or lighting. I tend to lean towards this same style when making my jewellery. I like shapes that pop and are dynamic along with the high contrast of going from very light to very dark with one piece. When carving metal each cut I make creates a surface to refract light, giving me the lighter side of the high contrast spectrum I'm after. Once worn against clothing or the wearer’s hair as a backdrop, the outline of the pendant or earring I choose to cut gives me the darker side of the high contrast spectrum. Along with other techniques like hatching to catch light and cross hatching to create darker spaces, everything is taken into consideration to achieve the visually striking look I'm after.                                      

When I was asked to decorate this bentwood box, I knew from the start of that I wanted my design to involve a sun. I also knew I wanted some type of story or action involved. I decided to go with the element of a surprise. From the outside the viewer can see a bold copper sun on the top of the box. Down the four sides are split U’s representing the light radiating outwards from the sun and pushing the dark away. A curious viewer would be invited to open the box to reveal a silver moon and a galaxy of stars floating inside the box.

I have titled this bentwood box “Contrast”. That name can be taken as simply a literal meaning to the visual difference between light and dark and my own personal exploration in design as an artist. But I would also hope viewers would think about the light and dark phases of our own lives and that one cannot exist without the other. I would invite the viewer to expand their definitions of light and dark. “Light” does not necessarily equate to good and “Dark” does not necessarily equate to bad. Over the years, I’ve come to learn that even though it may not feel like it in the moment this contrast of phases in our lives, overall, actually does end up creating a larger sense of balance. Balance found in contrast."

-Meaghan McRae