I have always been interested in traditional crafts because of the enjoyment I get from working with my hands and the mental connection that long-established techniques allow me to feel with my predecessors. The blacksmith’s ability to make his own tools appeals to my independent spirit while the practical nature of his work satisfies my desire to make beautiful and functional art. Ironwork serves as an important addition to our architectural and design palettes since no other building material can be formed in such a diversity of shapes or has the inherent warmth of hand-worked metal.

Since blacksmithing is a rather primitive craft that has largely remained unchanged for thousands of years, I embrace the time-honored techniques of working hot iron. I feel these methods give my work a timelessness and universal relevance. However, I do not want to be chained to the past, so I constantly use contemporary motifs and styles in my designs. These designs themselves often involve themes of change and movement balanced by convention and stability.  This juxtaposition of the new and the old, the familiar and the novel, is how growth occurs in nature, individuals, and societies. 

In my recent works, I assemble unique, botanically-inspired pieces into coherent and complex compositions.  I call upon my experience as a forest ecologist to explore and interpret how the roles of unique pieces or individuals combine into a balanced whole, where the overall effect is much greater than the sum of the individual parts yet does not subtract from the importance of those parts. I view these works as celebrations of coexistence – diversity and homogeny, the individual and the group, the functional and the purely aesthetic.

Brian Hall
(978) 249-6806
February, 2008