Athens artist Charles Pinckney has been working as a metalsmith for more than 50 years, crafting jewelry and small sculptures out of metal, found objects, stones, bone and wood. He said that he arranges and rearranges these objects into a composition “until the piece feels balanced and exciting to me.” You can see his work at the museum as part of a special display, “Charles Pinckney: Personal Adornment,” through November 13, 2022, in one of the wall cases in the permanent collection wing.
Pinckney, who was born in South Carolina, says that by the time he was 9 years old, he was making his own tools to carve wood and bone. Being an artist wasn’t something he thought of as a realistic goal, so he studied psychology at Clemson University, but he didn’t want to spend hours behind a desk and he had always loved making things with his hands. He took workshops with artists Eleanor Caldwell, Chuck Evans and Robert Ebendorf (the first two at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and the third at Anderson Ranch in Colorado), but he is primarily self-taught. He found employment to pay his bills by working as a hospital orderly and a radio DJ until he was able to support himself as a full-time artist.
Pinckney said, “The imagery I depict is abstractly related to memories of childhood and I think about patterns generated as lives intertwine, the ebb and flow of emotional and personal connections over time. I work in series and develop related pieces from previous designs. Common features of my work include moving parts, articulated joins, the combination of precious and non-precious metals and found objects and the use of designs that have a gestural quality rather than being highly symmetrical.”
In the raw materials he uses, he sees what he calls “latent art,” which he is obsessed with uncovering. His work springs from stories of his childhood, of resistance to injustice, of tales of family, hardship and joy. One might say that this jewelry is made from memories, and it incorporates deeply considered personal symbolism. For example, he sometimes places the clasp of a necklace at the pendant rather than behind the neck, to make it visible. In doing so, he hopes to draw a contrast with the way he remembers Black labor and Black people being hidden during his childhood. Pinckney calls his work “wearable sculpture” in the hope that it might evoke remembrances of lived experiences.
He also makes larger sculpture, lamps and mirrors. His recent concentration on jewelry for men and women includes brooches, rings, necklaces, bracelets, cufflinks and earrings, all one of a kind and rich with detail. Almost all the works shown in the display are from the artist’s collection. His others are out in the world where they accrue new narratives, new chronicles and new histories.
Pinckney lives in Athens, Georgia, and has received numerous awards, including the museum’s Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Award in 2014, two grants from the Georgia Council for the Arts and a grant from Tula Foundation Gallery. He has appeared on HGTV and been showcased as an artist in Southern Living and Ornament Magazines. He also teaches, lectures and shows his work at juried fine arts festivals and exhibitions around the country.
Authored by:
Hillary Brown
