Moving the Edge: the Lewton-Brain Foldform Competition Shows Where Foldforming Has Gone in 30 Years

July 6, 2012 - PRLog -- The inaugural Lewton-Brain Foldform Competition was launched to recognize the experimental work being done using the techniques of foldforrming across art disciplines. The Center for Metal Arts also wanted to create a benchmark survey of how this innovative sheet-forming technique is evolving as an art form. The competition coincides with the annual Lewton-Brain Conference at the Center for Metal Arts August 3-6, 2012.

A preliminary view of the entries suggests that jewelers who construct with foldforming techniques are moving into more sophisticated and less obvious uses of the folded forms. While it is not surprising that the process would be widely used as a forming technique in jewelry, foldforming has begun to be explored in related disciplines of sculpture and functional objets d'art.

Foldforming as a process is best described as a combination of origami and  other metal techniques, especially forging. Goldsmith and jewelry arts educator Charles Lewton-Brain developed and cataloged foldforming as a technique in the 1980's, and the process has since spread worldwide among jewelers.

"As amazing as it may seem," wrote Alan Revere in The Innovator's, Part V,  "nobody ever worked with metal this way in the more-than-10,000-year history of the craft." While it may be surprising to think of discovering a new technique in one of humankind's earliest technologies, sheet metal as a material has only been in existence for a relatively short period of time, and merging the plasticity of origami with other metal techniques, including forging, was a potent source of new possibilities in the metals.

This year's conference, "Moving the Edge: Further Explorations in Foldforming", will host an evening preview of the inaugural Lewton-Brain Foldform Competition entries, at the end of the Friday August 3rd session. Competition winners will be announced at closing ceremonies on Monday afternoon. Members of the press and representatives of jewelry organizations are welcome to stop by or to send a representative to view the competition entries, or to step into a workshop session. Charles Lewton-Brain, Tim McCreight, and Ed Mack are judges for the competition, and Rio Grande, the well-known jewelry supplier, is co-sponsoring the competition.

Earlier this year, Charles Lewton-Brain, the creative genius behind foldforming, was honored by the Canadian government with the prestigious Governor General Award, and he continues to be a sought-after presenter of topics surrounding the process at select events across Canada and the United States.

The Center for Metal Arts, one hour north of New York City, sponsors an annual summer conference with Charles Lewton-Brain, providing an ideal venue to spend four days with the innovative master, on the east coast. This year, the conference "Moving the Edge: Further Explorations in Foldforming" on August 3-6, 2012, provides an opportunity for participants to work with and learn under Lewton-Brain in an intimate  and collegial setting.

For the conference itself, over the course of four high-energy days, Charles Lewton-Brain will move through all the families of folds and variations, with the opportunity to document the process and many finished elements. He will also review current topics such as air chasing, plus hammer modifications for specific forming tasks. Full conference participants may bring their own hammers for modification. The conference format encourages questions from the audience, giving participants the opportunity to  further a knowledge base for pushing the forward edge of foldforming.. The small-group venue is designed for maximum access to the one person who still knows a great deal more than anyone else about foldforming..

Because so many artists were focused on the Jun e30 entry deadline for the inaugural Lewton-Brain Foldform Competition, The Center for Metal Arts is extending the early registration discount to Sunday July 15. It is also possible to spread out the registration over a longer payment time. Call the Center for Metal Arts or email for particulars.

The Center for Metal Arts is in the lower Hudson Valley of NY state, near major airports and just off two interstate routes, and is accessible by public transportation from NYC.  Located at 44 Jayne Street, Florida NY, in the former 1890’s Borden’s Creamery Icehouse, the Center is affiliated with the working studio of Fine Architectural Metalsmiths, and the second floor gallery museum of antique tools and “sketches in iron”. Conference details, travel, lodging, and more can be found online at centerformetalarts.com/blog and on the Center for Metal Arts Facebook page. Direct questions to info@centerformetalarts.com and the (845) 651-7550.        .