Alchemy

Harsh Collective is pleased to present the second edition of the Harsh Holiday Bazaar, Alchemy, a group exhibition featuring all female-identifying artists who work with metal. The show will open on Friday, November 15th with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m at Harsh Collective’s Greenpoint location, 61 Greenpoint Ave #103.

In alchemy, a medieval pseudoscience and predecessor of modern chemistry, the objective is to transform matter. More specifically, the process of turning one metal into a more precious and rare material. In alchemical texts, metals are gendered and vessels used for these experiments are referred to as wombs. Alchemy and metal have a strong connection to the feminine, yet metalwork is a field dominated by and associated with men. Alchemy seeks to reinterpret metalwork as a process imbued with as much femininity as masculinity by highlighting featured artists Imogen Brent, Jade Ellis, Caroline Kindelt, Hanna Lefcourt, Seelye Designs, and Jade Nguyen Van. 

“As with the first edition of the Harsh Holiday Bazaar in 2023, this exhibition highlights art forms that are often seen as artisan rather than art. Alchemy focuses on the women carving their space in the male-dominated medium of metalworking,” shares Etta Harshaw, Founder of Harsh Collective. 

Artist Hanna Lefcourt shares that “There is an innate sensitivity to metal work that is completely overlooked. Metal is extremely temperamental and delicate. I feel that especially in contemporary art, most institutions focus on artists that fit our preconceived notions of ‘masculine’ in both form and material. We sometimes forget that jewelry is the largest contemporary use of metalwork in the arts that is used in everyday life, ranging and including all societies and economic classes. In my own work, I try to create objects that are amorphous and sometimes ambiguous. I enjoy the complicated relationship between something that is so dangerous, unrefined, rigid, tough, or even scary, and at the same time brilliant, soft, ethereal, natural, and elegant.”