Micah Adams
Today is Wednesday, June 10th
Rag & Bone Bindery is open for business
(read our post from Wednesday, March 25th for more information about how we're able to remain open for business)
Micah Adams began making his collages of found metal objects in art school while learning to cast everyday items, from bottle caps to teeth, in metal. As his skill in metalworking developed, Adams began to look for objects that were already made of metal, and turned his jeweler’s saw to the coin. Freeing each individual motif from its metal background is highly meticulous work over which Adams possesses remarkable mastery. In the exhibition catalogue accompanying a display of work by both Adams and his partner, Amanda McCavour, at the L.A.PAI gallery in Ottawa, Canada, Lisa Pai identifies this tendency for both Adams and McCavour to “engage in artistic labour through simple tools and machines” as a “lived political statement in the face of the mad speed of the world as it careens toward unsustainability”. Adams himself is keenly aware of the contrast between his own artistic work and the societal scramble to manufacture items as fast as possible and instill a widespread desire to consume them. “More and more,” he writes in his artist statement, “the goods we use every day are made to be disposable, coins may be the oldest objects we handle on a day to day basis”.
When Adams first started working with coins, his media consisted mostly of the Canadian currency he was handling daily as we went about his business. He has since expanded his toolbox of designs beyond the copper leaves offered by Canadian pennies to include the flowers, buildings, birds, and other animals to be found in foreign currency. Adams sees himself not only as an artist, but as a collector. He is “an archivist of a world of found objects,” as he phrases it in his artist statement; “I’m always collecting and reassembling found objects to create new meaning and new possibilities”. Beyond his intricate collages, sometimes this means creating new fantastical creatures by combining the animal elements found on coins across nations, or creating the tie tacks and earrings he puts up for sale on his Etsy site, reimagining one ordinary object as another.
See more at: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2019/08/micah-adams-handcarved-coins/
We're so grateful to be able to continue to make books and to help you be creative at home. Please remain safe and take care of friends and family. Contact us anytime if you have questions. Use our contact page to send a direct message, or call us at 401 728 0762. We're usually in the Bindery by 9:00 and leave around 4:00 (EST). Cheers! - Jason
