Art designer from Down Under
Just by looking at the work station, one can tell that an artist inhabits the corner desk on the second floor of the Fine Arts Building. Several large, gray ovals comprise the makings of wearable art pieces and sit patiently beneath posters of stenciled art that have inspired other works. The desk is cluttered and messy, and yet everything seems to have its place. However, there is one feature that isn't ubiquitous to an artist's station.
Sim Luttin prepares to secure a pin to the back of the broach. The piece of jewelry is her "piece of the day" for her thesis project.
In a corner, plastic bins are stacked about 10 feet tall, each filled to the brim with smaller plastic containers. Each is labeled with a date -- one for every day of the past year -- and contains a different piece of art. The collection is part of IU student Sim Luttin's thesis capstone project. The project, and eventual exhibit, will bring to a close a very successful chapter in Luttin's -- and the Indiana University Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Art's -- story.
"I designed my thesis to connect to my past few years in Bloomington and the United States," said Luttin, a native of Melbourne, Australia. "It requires me to spend time here in the studio every day."
Before coming to Bloomington, Luttin earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in gold and silversmithing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and worked for an Australian non-profit metal studio. Nicole Jacquard -- her former teacher in Melbourne, now an assistant professor in metalsmithing and jewelry design at IU Bloomington -- recruited her to Bloomington's program. And the collaboration has been a success for all parties involved.
Since coming to IU, Luttin has been awarded more than 15 scholarships, fellowships and grants to fund projects that have earned her two consecutive Robert Harrison Awards for Excellence in Metalsmith and Jewelry Design. She's been on panels, published in instructional books, and served as co-curator for a School of Fine Arts (SoFA) Gallery exhibit titled "Field of Vision."
Last October, the metals department's project "Field of Vision" featured 17 renowned international artists in metalsmithing and jewelry. In collaboration with faculty -- including Randy Long, IU professor of art, head of metalsmithing and jewelry design -- and the SoFA Gallery, Luttin's brainchild bloomed as she helped plan every aspect and detail of the gallery, and even helped raise funding for the project.
Sim Luttin creates a pin to place on the back of her brooch. Nearly every piece she has made for her thesis project over the past year is wearable art.
"Sim was perfect for the project. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job," said Betsy Stirratt, director of the SoFA Gallery. "She was so great that we hired her."
Recently, Luttin has been working two days a week as a public relations liaison for the SoFA Gallery -- another task in which she excels.
"I've worked with students at IU for 20 years and the level of quality Sim provides both as an employee and a student is rare," said Stirratt. "We will be very lucky to find anyone remotely like her after she graduates."
But of all her awards and accomplishments, completing her thesis project will provide her with her proudest achievement of all.
"I'm most proud of earning my master's degree," said Luttin. "I've worked very hard to achieve that, and it's not an easy thing to do."
Luttin recently had a few of her pieces on display at the SoFA Gallery MFA Metal's Exhibition. Each piece -- like most all of her work -- can be worn as jewelry and is inspired by her immediate and natural environments. Her preferred medium is silver, and her pieces are often technically and physically demanding, requiring a long process of sketches and logically thinking out the piece's construction. Her capstone project, however, has allowed her to break this mold.
The larger pieces of art setting out on her work station are the culmination of her thesis project to be displayed in the SoFA Gallery this April. They are essentially collages of elements present in her other 366 pieces and represent collected memories and reflections on the past year. Luttin compares the process to storytelling, where some of the facts are lost or blurry.
"In essence they are most likened to mourning jewelry, as I am, in many ways, mourning the passing of my time here in Bloomington," said Luttin. "This reconstruction of the past is how I want to remember my time here, but it's not necessarily an accurate account. It's been a bit of a risk and is outside of my comfort zone, but I'm very excited to see how it all turns out."
Luttin's Master's thesis display, named "The Temporary Nature of Things," will be on display in the center gallery space at the SoFA Gallery from April 22-May 3, 2008. Her art will be joined by the thesis projects of seven other graduating MFA students.
Luttin will graduate with her Master of Fine Arts degree in metalsmithing and jewelry design in May. She has been teaching at IU Bloomington for the past couple of years, and is considering trying to continue to teach in Australia. But teaching appointments in her field are hard to come by in her native country, so after a few years in Melbourne, Luttin is thinking of visiting Europe for a couple of years before pursuing her ultimate ambition.
"If I could do anything, I'd like to eventually open my own gallery in Melbourne," said Luttin.
