ARTIST STATEMENT
I am drawn to recurring patterns that echo throughout the natural world. Disparate forms converge sharing design similarities such as the Fibonacci sequence. I am constantly innovating my techniques to create fluid, textured metal forms that capture a sense of natural flow. I work in series, and number pieces based on common matrices to provide a framework for the experimental exploration of the effects of nature’s movement, rhythm, and continual transformation.
I’ve merged metalsmithing and printmaking to create deeply textured, embossed copper reliefs. Using an etching press, I pull hand-carved linocuts and textures, and crush abstract folds into thin copper sheets. Through successive passes in the press, layers of depth and complexity build. I then refine the surfaces through traditional metalworking techniques, including burnishing, patination, and layers of color oxides. The resulting surfaces evoke natural processes of growth, change, and aging.
ARTIST BIO
Esther Barr is an award-winning metalsmith/printmaker whose nature-inspired copper reliefs draw on her background in illustration, experimental film, and visual effects. Raised in the coastal artist community of Marblehead, Massachusetts, she studied at Rhode Island School of Design before earning her BFA from California Institute of the Arts. Following a twenty-year career as an effects animator at major Los Angeles studios, she transitioned full-time to metalworking in 2002.
With an extensive history of juried exhibitions, Esther merges printmaking and metalsmithing, using an etching press to emboss carved linocuts and other textures into copper. She fabricates dimensional reliefs enriched with hand tooling, rich patinas, and mixed media. Her work is currently included in Changing Terrain, a collaborative exhibition co-hosted by the Oceanside Museum of Art and the San Diego History Center.
I am drawn to recurring patterns that echo throughout the natural world. Disparate forms converge sharing design similarities such as the Fibonacci sequence. I am constantly innovating my techniques to create fluid, textured metal forms that capture a sense of natural flow. I work in series, and number pieces based on common matrices to provide a framework for the experimental exploration of the effects of nature’s movement, rhythm, and continual transformation.
I’ve merged metalsmithing and printmaking to create deeply textured, embossed copper reliefs. Using an etching press, I pull hand-carved linocuts and textures, and crush abstract folds into thin copper sheets. Through successive passes in the press, layers of depth and complexity build. I then refine the surfaces through traditional metalworking techniques, including burnishing, patination, and layers of color oxides. The resulting surfaces evoke natural processes of growth, change, and aging.
ARTIST BIO
Esther Barr is an award-winning metalsmith/printmaker whose nature-inspired copper reliefs draw on her background in illustration, experimental film, and visual effects. Raised in the coastal artist community of Marblehead, Massachusetts, she studied at Rhode Island School of Design before earning her BFA from California Institute of the Arts. Following a twenty-year career as an effects animator at major Los Angeles studios, she transitioned full-time to metalworking in 2002.
With an extensive history of juried exhibitions, Esther merges printmaking and metalsmithing, using an etching press to emboss carved linocuts and other textures into copper. She fabricates dimensional reliefs enriched with hand tooling, rich patinas, and mixed media. Her work is currently included in Changing Terrain, a collaborative exhibition co-hosted by the Oceanside Museum of Art and the San Diego History Center.
