ABOUT THE ARTIST

Harold O’Connor is a jeweler’s jeweler. A master of art jewelry, he is widely respected in Europe for his technical virtuosity, but known in this country primarily to fellow jewelers, museum curators and a handful of knowledgeable collectors.
O’Connor lives in Colorado, yet he perfected his craft in Europe, studying in Finland, Germany, Denmark and Austria. He travels extensively, offering workshops and teaching classes around the world.

ABOUT THE WORK

Harold O’Connor stumbled upon jewelry quite by accident during his senior year at the University of New Mexico when he took a course in metalwork and became entranced with the challenge of translating ideas into solid form. He apprenticed in Europe where he embraced the philosophy of mastery of each technique before moving on to the next one and carefully thinking through each piece before making it. His jewelry reflects puzzles and abstract concepts in its design format, a viewpoint from Europe.

He is intrigued with addressing the dilemma of suspension in which he frequently uses cables in his designs. He works thematically, following an idea through any number of permutations and combinations, organizing into coherent narratives. He develops techniques to actualize these ideas. He takes meticulous notes and sketches his designs in advance of fabrication. He will even make his own tools for individual pieces.

In a recent series, for example, he uses spicula, tapered tubes of metal, to suggest the organic sticks and stones found in Japanese gardens. The abstract shapes also take on masculine and feminine associations, and in some instances, one is reminded of artifacts found at pre-historic Indian ruins in the Southwest. O’Connor’s elegant engineering allows him to make the stones seem to float, while preserving a solid, almost spiritual, unity of composition.

He uses such techniques as reticulation, granulation, and also works using mokume- gane, a Japanese technique of laminating metals to create a surface for repousee design. He is an expert at layering metal until it looks like crinkled paper. Most recently, O’Connor has inlaid pieces of granulated metals in rock to build upon his study of surface differences.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2007 SOFA Chicago, Patina Gallery exhibitor
2006, “Ursprung,” Forum Handwerk, Mainz, Germany
2005, “ORIGINS,” Villa Bengel, Oberstein, Germany
2004, “Wabi Sabi: The Art Jewelry of Harold O’Connor,” Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2000, “Precious Metals and Beyond,” Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1995, “American Craft- The Nation’s Collection,” Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC

SELECTED PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
National Ornamental Metal Museum, Nashville, TN