Claire Kahn’s Winter in Jacona

Santa Fe renaissance artist, Claire Kahn introduces her eighth solo exhibition to Patina Gallery, Winter in Jacona. Her collection of micro mosaic necklaces and bracelets transports us to wintertime in Northern New Mexico. The opening reception will be at Patina Gallery on Friday Dec. 14 2018 from 5-7pm. The exhibition will go until January 14, 2019.
Winter in Jacona leads one to a time where the days get shorter and where a humble serenity blankets the Pojoaque Valley.
Observing an ending day falling into night, Kahn transforms the moment using light, color, texture and transition. Kahn achieves a visual composition, born from the discerning use of cylindrical glass beads, micro-impressions, joined to convey an overarching artistic expression.
Weaving thousands of beads, inch my inch, Kahn intertwines them into a continuous cascade of color. The ropes transform into wearable necklaces and bracelets; they skillfully represent mosaics of pattern and color with the sophistication of informed design and technique.
For Patina Gallery, Winter in Jacona marks the last of Seasons of the Soul, a yearlong celebration of the spirit of artistic innovation.
Kahn sees her jewelry as a means for her collectors’ self-expression. Each piece transforms when a woman picks up a bead rope, runs
it through her fingers and places it around her neck. “It is worn. It has a purpose,” Kahn observes. “To quote my father, ‘design is the art form that is incomplete until it is engaged.’”