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The International Contemporary Vitreous Enamel Archive
(ICVEA)

 

*Due to a problem with the web server the online databases are temporarily unavailable. We are working hard on a solution and can provide copies on a disc to anyone who wishes to view them.

 

For further inquiries please contact the CFPR Research Administrator, on the following e-mail address: Jesse.Heckstall-Smith@uwe.ac.uk

This project was funded by the AHRB (Arts and Humanities Research Board).

Contemporary vitreous enamel is, in the main, inadequately documented and researched; this archive has been an attempt at redressing this situation. The first step was to gather slides from selected artists who use enamel in their work, which illustrates the quality and diversity of contemporary work, and thereby aim to raise the awareness of enamel within the applied arts.

This project is an outcome of the original proposal for the 3 year AHRB Fellowship in the Creative and Performing Arts; this was to establish the potential of vitreous enamel on metal as a medium for creative practice for visual artists.

The aim of this archive is to establish a major international resource for study and research into contemporary enamel (glass on metal). UWE already has NEVAC (The National Electronic and Video Archive of the Crafts) and there will be a link between NEVAC and the archive. Consequently, there is a good deal of expertise in archiving the crafts at UWE.

We have approached other institutions to work with us. As a starting point 100 artists were asked to contribute to the archive and to give their permission to copy their slides (10 slides for each artist). We have transferring these slides into digital form and created a comprehensive database, which will be the basis for a digital web site.

This is the start of the establishment of a major international archive/web site for study and research into contemporary enamel with the aim of establishing the potential of enamel (glass on metal) as medium for contemporary practice by visual artists.

The need for this archive has been identified through master classes, seminars, conferences and a major impetus from the International Enamel Symposium 2000 held at UWE. The findings were as follows:
In comparison with other areas in the applied arts, there is a lack of critical writing or recording of the subject. For example, in the last twenty years Crafts (UK) magazine lists only a few articles under Enamel/Enamellists/Enamellers compared with most other areas of the Applied Arts. A major work on the crafts The Crafts in Britain in the 20th Century by Tanya Harrod, makes only four brief references to enamel.

 

Enamel as a medium is under exploited in Higher Education and public art.

To summarise: enamelling should be considered in the same manner as other materials / media used by the artists - as a basis for exploring a concept, not just as ’standard’ or as an exacting technical process with little scope beyond decorative arts process.

The objectives of the archive are to:

Illustrate enamel as a medium for creative practice by visual artists, through selected work of diverse high quality. To document the process through its inherent aesthetic qualities.

    * Inspire and encourage the broad use of enamel by visual artists as appropriate for the 21st century.

    * Established enamel as a significant area of study in the applied arts.

    * Take a broad view and include artists who use enamel as well as established enamellists.

    * Create teaching and learning outcomes.

    * Make the process of enamel accessible to visual artists and students by the application of non-traditional enamel and print in enamel processes developed at UWE.

    * Show that enamel is a valid vehicle for creative outcomes.

    * Promote enamel as an appropriate medium for architectural and public art commissions.

    * To make enamel accessible to curators, galleries and researchers.

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