Myra Mimlitsch-Gray
DOOMSDAYERS / INSIDERS
© Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, photo by Christopher Preis
A virtuoso in the art of metalsmithing and holloware, Myra Mimlitsch-Gray is a national treasure who also makes treasures. She goes beyond giving family heirlooms superficial facelifts by starting from scratch—her intuitive interpretations of candleholders and serving trays are raised by hand from sheets of metal with the expert, repet- itive blow of the hammer. By pushing the periodic elements to their sensual and theatrical extremes, she gives her objects an agency that their dated relatives simply did not have. Over the course of her starred career, results have defied themselves in a myriad of ways. Mimlitsch-Gray’s pieces may posture as historic or didac- tic, but they are caught in the act of splitting, melting, puffing, being torn or squished—all while earnestly attempt- ing to get away from themselves, to move on from where they have always been placed.
But her objects show this is only possible to a degree. The mate- rial imposition inherent to them comes with baggage: silver is “eternally chal- lenging, both a joy and a bitch to work with. Brass is, well, brassy—annoying and brash—that’s what I like about it. Bronze has honorific, commemorative, and statuary connotations, which I work with.”1 The legacies, hierarchies, and problems connected to class, utility, and service are similarly impossible to ignore. Liking metal even for all its difficulties, she works through her gut reactions to storied objects with a prowess that borders on the unbelievable.
B. 1962, Camden, NJ
Lives and works in Stone Ridge, NY
SM9475
Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, Cylinder Slide, 2021, Silver. Courtesy of Myra Mimlitsch-Gray.
SM9474
Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, Party Barge, 2024, Silver. Courtesy of Myra Mimlitsch-Gray.