A collection of artifacts from my learning experiences over roughly a decade of metalworking: some firsts, some failures, some interesting odds and ends, tests, testaments, worn-outs and leftovers. Each object embodies a reference to some step along the path I’ve taken, an attempt made, a lesson learned, a goal met. All range of emotions abound: perseverance, triumph, frustration, perplexity… each object’s story a tale unto itself. So when it’s hard to remember where I’ve been for the immediacies of where I am now, I look to these mementos and trace the trajectory I have scoped for myself, and stay that heading.
Putting such a cabinet on display before the world is a sort of a resume, akin to a masterpiece of an ancient guild artisan that demonstrated their ability. The use of an old carpenter’s travel box for the arrangement is a physical callback to journeymen, carrying along the tools of the trade as they sought their place in the world. While it no longer is furnishing such tools, proof of capabilities fill the case. It is more ragged and agglomerated than the polished showpieces of old, yet it embodies the same function: to document “Here are all the things I have encountered”
Copyright Jonathan Sherwood 2025
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