Work samples
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9th Dimensional Play9th Dimensional Play is a necklace made of hand-sculpted glass and sterling silver beads, interconnected with silicone cord. The necklace has 3 clasps that connect the piece to the body and drape sensually down the back. This work is part of a series of exploring glass beads as bodies of their own – experiencing desire to connect, attach, surround, penetrate, and move together. Swift sees universal life in the forms they sculpt in molten glass; each bead/body behaves differently and responds to its environmental conditions just as people do. The sculpting of a molten glass bead is itself a dance, a conversation about needs and desires between the artist and the glass. Upon completion of each glass bead, the bead itself becomes a relic of the dance. As these forms come together into jewelry, individual glass bodies become wearable communities that function as a living conversation between the glass itself and the body wearing it.
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Spirit Baby
Spirit Baby is a sculpture made of cotton fabric dyed with turmeric from the artist's pantry and dandelions foraged in the artist's neighborhood, and stuffed with fluff from a old worn out pillow taken from the artist's bed. The sculpture's face ia made of vitreous enamel on copper. This face has many eyes, made from a glass murrini cane hand-sculpted in players of molten glass and stretched thin by the artist. Spirit Baby is a sculpture that is meant to be held and loved like a doll. In this piece, Swift makes tangible the energetic embrace they feel during meditative connections. The warm, plush fabric body heightens sensations of comfort and bliss, as the the cold, smooth enameled face provides a loving shock - electrically contrasting the warm embrace. Many eyes shine a knowing gaze along with a squiggly, silly grin.
In both performance and ritual with this sculpture, an ancient intimacy is unlocked between art and artist — divine and illuminated. Swift does not claim to know god, what it looks like or what its name is. But they see god in the stars, in nature, in universal patterns, and in their media. Using natural and universal materials is intrinsic in Swift developing a deep body/spirit connection with their work. Swift recognizes and respects the elements present in enamel formulations and the purity of copper, and sees just as much divine significance in the turmeric in their pantry and dandelions foraged to dye the fabric of this sculpture.
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NeoCharm NecklaceThe NeoCharm Necklace is made of hand-sculpted glass beads and sterling silver, strung together on a silk cord. This necklace casts colorful shadows on the neck of the wearer, hinting at the intended integration of the body into this artwork. This work is part of a series of exploring glass beads as bodies of their own – experiencing desire to connect, attach, surround, penetrate, and move together. Swift sees universal life in the forms they sculpt in molten glass; each bead/body behaves differently and responds to its environmental conditions just as people do. The sculpting of a molten glass bead is itself a dance, a conversation about needs and desires between the artist and the glass. Upon completion of each glass bead, the bead itself becomes a relic of the dance. As these forms come together into jewelry, individual glass bodies become wearable communities that function as a living conversation between the glass itself and the body wearing it.
About Mercury
Mercury Swift is a non-binary artist, jeweler and educator living and working in Baltimore, MD. They received a BFA in Interdisciplinary Object Design from Towson University. Swift has exhibited work in shows across Baltimore, NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Diego, Providence RI, Deer Isle MN, Gatlinburg TN, Munich Germany, and more. They have participated in the Pentaculum Artist Residency at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, as well as the MoveMove Residency in Baltimore. Swift has… more
Bead/Body
This series of work explores glass beads as bodies of their own – beings that experience desire to connect, attach, surround, penetrate, and move together.
Swift sees universal life in the forms they sculpt in molten glass; each bead/body behaves differently and responds to its environmental conditions just as people do. The sculpting of a molten glass bead is itself a dance, a conversation about needs and desires between the artist and the glass. Upon completion of each glass bead, the bead itself becomes a relic of the dance. These dances and the beads that come of them directly impact Swift's butoh-inspired performance artwork in which they aim to capture the fluidity of glass within the motion of their own body. As glass bead forms come together into jewelry, individual glass bodies become wearable communities that function as a living conversation between the glass itself and the body wearing it. This creates a generative feedback loop between Swift's visual and performance artwork.
Faces
This series of work explores a connection between Swift's glass work practice and butoh-inspired performance art practice.
In butoh, there is a strong emphasis on dissolving the self - allowing oneself to be moved rather than move of one's own conscious will. In Faces, Swift captures expressions often found in butoh, from agony to profound joy, curiosity to rage. These faces are representations of channeled energy - Swift meditates on certain emotional states and begins to sculpt in molten soft glass with as little conscious thought as safely possible, simply allowing the faces to come to life. This slow, delicate, detailed work parallels and reflects the butoh-inspired performance art work that Swift creates, as well as that of their contemporaries, through process as well as form. In the case of faces that are made of multiple beads, the faces come together by chance during moments of playful connection.