the Glove project
Casting iron is a transformative, community experience. People come together in a magical and collaborative process to make each other’s art. They sweat and labor together to create.
My art practice embraces reuse of materials. Damaged gloves are often thrown away because they are dangerous to continue using as safety apparel. I started a tradition of gifting cut pieces of damaged foundry gloves and giving the pieces to participants in my foundry classes. With this project, the gloves are put to a new use. Each glove is marked by the use and experiences of the wearer and intimately tied to the process.
For this project, the selected damaged glove is dissected and editioned to gift to people involved in the pours/classes. Honoring the life of the animal through its hide, used to protect the iron casters, once its purpose is served, each glove regains life in memorial to the energies to which it was exposed.
As I age and grow with my children, I realize the importance of transmitting information. The practice of caring for objects through community has an ancient legacy. Unlike my biological children, I may only have a short time with foundry students and colleagues through pours. We Are Iron is the central motto to my running the Foundry Tree cast iron database as well as this project. Through cutting and sharing the glove between many, memory is transmitted and time marked and honored.