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Adorn the Present

Adorn the Present is a small group exhibition and performance bringing together jewelry, metalwork, objects, tableware, and wearable art that carry narrative and stories. 

This is a wearable art exhibition centered around storytelling. Storytelling through the body, whether via the meditative movement of craft or through performance itself. How stories can be told with  material, intention, and activated through experience. We are interested in work that tells a story both on and off the body—objects that investigate storytelling  and consider wearable art as a living ritual object. Each of the artists featured works with material and intention to create objects that act as living deities for the body.

Rather than presenting adornment as static objects, the performance will bring the pieces to life through movement and ritual, transforming wearable objects into a shared, time-based experience. The four-day exhibition will culminate in a performance on the final night that will feature music and dance performance.

The Exhibition

The exhibition will take place at Rosa in Williamsburg, November 16–19. We will feature a selected group of approximately 6–8 artists. Curated by jewelry artists Hanna Katarina and Brienna Hall

The work will be presented on a large communal table, arranged around the daily altar—the place of ritual, gathering, and the dinner table. The table becomes an alchemical dinner party, a place of mystery, story, and creation. Objects will be displayed alongside sacred vessels, liquids, materials, and processes that speak to time, transformation, and the transmutation of experience. Together, the works create a ritual landscape where each object carries a story, revealing something of the mysteries of creation through the perspective of each artist.

The exhibition will culminate in a performance on Thursday evening featuring music by Agua Viva and a performance featuring Fanny system, as well as performances by Hanna-Katarina and scottie hall

The project grows out of Alter the Present, an exhibition we previously curated at the Mendocino Art Center. That project brought together contemporary jewelry, performance, music, and installation to create an intimate experience centered on storytelling, memory, and the reclamation of the imagination. Adorn the Present continues this exploration through the idea of the table as a site of ritual, gathering, and alchemical transformation—where sacred objects are activated both on and off the body.

Mendocino Art Center

A central part of this project is expanding awareness of the Mendocino Art Center and the exceptional Susan Wood Jewelry Department it houses. We’re excited to share MAC’s educational offerings and Artist-in-Residence Program with the broader art jewelry community and introduce artists and creatives from around the country to the opportunities available here.

Our hope is that Adorn the Present will offer a glimpse into the creative energy and community that make the Mendocino Art Center so special—and inspire artists from near and far to visit, learn, create, and connect with our art center and the Mendocino community.