Kindred III

Haley Bates

Kindred-III-sq-copy


Fort Collins, CO, United States
2023

5.5 x 3 x 2.75 inches

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In making new work, I look to preexisting forms and structures that share a background of utility and functional design. My spoons are part of an ongoing series that explores emotional connection and complexity through metaphors of hybridization, abstraction, and functional excess.

The spoon, by its very nature, is nurturing and generous. Spoons nourish us throughout our lives, first from the hand of others, then from ourselves, and finally, from others once again. We spoon with our lovers under cover of darkness. We spoon sugar into our tea or coffee, we spoon medicine into the mouths of those we care for. The spoon is both intimate and public, being in and of the body. It is an extension of our own cupped palm.

My newest work is a family portrait of sorts. As I raise my daughter, I am challenged by the contradictions of holding close and letting go. As she and I grow together, mother and child, we also grow apart, a complex symbiosis that is both intimate and incongruous.

Bio
Haley Bates is an artist based in Fort Collins, CO, where she heads the Jewelry and Metalsmithing program at Colorado State University. She received her BFA from the University of North Texas, and her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her work explores themes of connection, commemoration, and loss as a reflective act of optimism and renewal.

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