FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2008

The Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) is pleased to announce this year’s Emerging Artist Award winner, Masumi Kataoka. Ms. Kataoka received a BFA in Metal/Jewelry at Northern Arizona University and completed a MFA in Metal Jewelry at the University of North Texas in 2003. Ms Kataoka was chosen from among seventy-nine entries, a record number, from the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, Italy, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Iran.

Promise, Innovation and Individuality
The purpose of this award is to acknowledge promise, innovation and individuality in the work of emerging artists. The competition is open to makers of art jewelry who have recently completed their professional training and have not been a featured artist in a commercial gallery or museum. Ms. Kataoka will receive a $5,000 cash award, which is a substantial increase and more than double the amount of last year’s award. In addition, her work will be featured by an AJF member gallery at the Sculptural Object and Functional Art (SOFA) Expo in Chicago and in AJF ads, and she will serve as a juror for next year’s competition.

Jurors for 2008 Competition
Jurors for the 2008 competition were Cindi Strauss, curator of Modern and Contemporary Decorative Arts and Design at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Ron Porter, long-standing member of AJF and a collector of contemporary jewelry; and Andrea Janosik, jewelry artist and recipient of the AJF’s 2007 Award. Criteria used in the judging were originality, depth of concept and quality of craftsmanship. Jurors felt her work had both a distinctive look and a range of form; they described her work as having an organic feel and commented on her seductive use of the materials.

Ms. Kataoka’s work emphasizes the intimate nature of jewelry as an object. Historical jewelry, such as Victorian-mourning jewelry, has been of great interest to Ms. Kataoka because it signifies a deep affection and bond with another person and consequently with the object itself. Ms. Kataoka uses materials that may suggest skin and internal organs as if they were an extension of the body, as if one’s inner feelings are outwardly displayed. She finds the use of body elements and materials that relate to the body in jewelry interesting because it blurs the boundary between the person and the object itself and emphasizes the intimacy of objects.

Formal announcement of this award, with images of the work, will be made at SOFA Chicago, November 7-9, 2008.

About Art Jewelry Forum
The Art Jewelry Forum is a non-profit organization designed to advocate the field of contemporary art jewelry. The Art Jewelry Forum is a non-profit organization designed to advocate the field of contemporary art jewelry by promoting education, appreciation and support for contemporary art jewelry. Our goals are to:

• Present opportunities for members and the public to build their personal knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of art jewelry.
• Advocate and support efforts to bring jewelry artists and other experts in front of groups to talk about their work and the field.
• Garner support and attention for the field from dedicated collectors, curators and writers.
• Provide acknowledgement and financial support to artists entering the field and for exhibitions/publications/acquisitions that will expose art jewelry to a broad audience.
• Form alliances and partnerships with other organizations that have interests in alignment with the AJF membership.
• Our growing national membership includes collectors (both the established and those just getting started), museum and jewelry professionals, and many that are simply interested in learning about contemporary art jewelry.

To learn more about the AJF Emerging Artist Award and see work by previous winners click here.