Celebrating its tenth anniversary year, Patina is pleased to announce a second solo exhibition of masterworks by American jewelry artist, Pat Flynn. Flynn's works reside in the collections of prestigious museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Art and Design and the Art Institute of Chicago. In this exhibition, Flynn will present new jewelry and vessels in forged gold and steel.

At 6'2", weighing just over 200 pounds, Pat Flynn is a big man, and he employs a physicality that's unusual in the world of studio jewelry. Towering over a sweltering forge, he uses powerful hammer blows to work his metals. Given his size and skill set, one wonders, why does Pat Flynn make jewelry at all? Why not build large things, like sculpture, or tables?

The answer has something to do with jewelry's connection to the wearer, and intimacy. Art can't possibly be more intimate than when worn on the body. "When you make a ring or a bracelet, there are more demands on the design. A certain elegance is required to make it work. I want pieces I am building to be worn." It matters very deeply to Flynn that they are. He is genuinely proud that collectors tell him they wear his jewelry everyday.

The contrast of a large man forging art works of great delicacy is just one expression of contrast that is rife in Flynn's oeuvre. His method requires great physical strength and the delicate touch of a surgeon, too. The soft line of his forge hardened metals is another contrast. And then there is the obvious one, the matte, blackened surface of the steel and iron, and the white glint of diamonds. It's an exciting combination of materials, humble and precious, and Flynn was among the early practitioners of their use. The light and dark...Flynn loves to balance the opposites.

Flynn is highly respected among jewelry artists for his technical mastery. His works reveal a meticulous hand. His 18k gold hinges, for example, are legendary. One "corrugated" bracelet, forged with gold, provides another example of his workmanship. It stands only about two inches high, but each ridge of corrugation requires joining edges that are rough and irregular. This bracelet has 69" of soldering and even Flynn is amazed. "It's easy to make something straight, square or perfectly round. It's really, really hard to solder edges that aren't perfect."

He is also known for his understated design. "I try to impart an honesty and purity to my work. These sound like hokey words but its real. My work isn't ornamental. It's actually pretty minimal and pared down...I am interested in the quality of an edge, of a line. I'm very conscious of it. I try not to think too much while I'm working because I don't want to overly refine my work. I want my pieces to communicate."

Forging gold and steel is a recent development for Flynn. It's a departure from earlier work and he loves its spontaneous nature. "Forging gold and steel is a control, un-control kind of dance. I am working blind and can not know what is happening to the metals until they're cooled and cleaned. The process is very painterly because the metals take on their own lives together."

Flynn worked for years as a bench jeweler, doing repairs and sizing. He enjoyed it because it provided practice. He has likened those years to the way musicians, who after years of training, return to scales, over and over again. And like musicians who return to scales, the exercises prepared Flynn for the performance of more expressive work.

Artist and critic Bruce Metcalf refers to Flynn when he writes, "In the end, it's a quality of life issue. I think our culture hungers for objects in which we can still detect a human presence...We need objects that have been carefully made, and come to us without hype and hollow fantasies, so that we can touch something honest. In doing so, we are reminded about the difference between what is real and what's not. Pat Flynn's jewelry can do these things." from Pat Flynn, Master Metalsmith, catalogue for the National Ornamental Museum.

Flynn brings some twenty new pieces to the Patina exhibition. He will attend a public reception on Friday, June 12, beginning at 5:30 at Patina Gallery. The exhibition will run through July 5.