Crys Harse

 Available at the Alberta Craft Gallery - Edmonton & Calgary

Crys Harse (Calgary, AB) has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta College of Art + Design. A metalsmith with a passion for form and surface texture, she is drawn to vessels and small-scale sculpture, and is investigating the connections between metalsmithing and basketry along with her ongoing work on the etched and wrinkled surface. Influenced by weaving and basketry, her work interlaces one discipline and another, blending textile techniques and the properties of metal to create the unexpected.

My inspiration comes from the shapes and textures around me. It might be a field of grain, a wooded slope, a pile of junk in the scrap-metal yard, or squashed cars on a flatbed truck. It is my fascination with texture, over the past several years, that has led me to experiment with changing the nature of the metal before making a vessel: raising or sinking of a woven form or pre-etched plate; cutting and weaving metal into a vessel; or wrinkling the metal before forming.

My use of recycled industrial cast-offs complete the cycle. As a metalsmith I am drawn to industrial debris as someone else might be drawn to pirates’ treasure. I find great satisfaction in taking these work-worn metal parts and transforming them into vessels that can become a valued part of our living space. Visible hammer marks and rivets in the finished piece often reflect the industrial origin of its components.

ACC Exhibitions: Go Figure (2001), Mugs & Jugs (2003), All About Alberta (2005), All About Alberta II (2006), Once Upon a Time (2006), Gone Green (2009), Unity & Diversity (2009), Cheongju Selection (2010), Intangible Cultural Assets (2010), Golden Edge (2013), Continuum (2014), Well in Hand (2014), Minutiae (2014), Innovative Threads: Contemporary Weaving (2024)