EXHIBITION INFORMATION
Alvin H Butz Gallery | ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 18015
- September 25-February 7
- Venue/Event Rules
Hands Before Mine, Hands Beside Mine | Work by Emily Baker
This project entitled Hands Before Mine, Hands Beside Mine, begins by acknowledging that my sculptural practice was not cultivated in isolation. Comprised of a series of cast iron diptychs, the work pays homage to the numerous mentors who have shaped my technical understanding of making. Based in the craft genealogy that often accompanies trades, these works honor the ways learning is transferred through proximity. The lessons and techniques from my mentors remain embedded in my hands as a record of influence. This work is an attempt to hold their guidance in material form.
The sculptural forms are directly inspired by an archive abandoned in Allegheny-Ludlum Technologies Specialty Steel (AL Tech) in Watervliet, New York. Stemming from studio-photographed stainless steel mechanical parts, these photographs were produced as evidence for metallurgical analysis. Parts submitted, examined, ground down, etched, and studied so that a metallurgist could generate a technical report. Many of the files are marked with blunt assessments— rejectable, complaint—and accompanied by meticulous typewritten notes describing “minute cracks in the fillet areas,” “radial cracking at center flange,” “center rupture revealed by grinding,” or “splined shaft which failed in service.” Whether the defects resulted from human error, alloy adhesion, or misuse remains unclear, but each document exists only because something went awry. Special care went into retaining these identifiable failures within these wall-mounted cast iron pieces. The archive exists because something failed: my mentorships exist because something succeeded.
The making of this work took place over the course of six months in settings conducive to an exchange with numerous students and green practitioners. As work in America continues to shift toward isolation, celebrated in a Work-From-Home modality, it seems as though opportunities for mentorship are becoming increasingly rare. Hands Before Mine, Hands Beside Mine allowed me to share my own craft lineage with those eager to learn from my hands.
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My mentors are:
Sheri – David – Michael – Chuck – Ken – Michael – Norwood – Andrew – Jim – George – Blaise
Who are yours?
Emily Baker
Artist Bio
Emily Baker is an interdisciplinary artist from Northern California and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her BFA in Interior Design from California State University, Chico, and her MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2016. Emily has shown her work nationally and internationally. Residencies include Salem Art Works, The Vermont Studio, The Steel Yard, and The Santa Fe Art Institute during their 2020 Labor theme, and Western North Carolina Sculpture Park in 2026. In 2022, she presented her work at the International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art in Berlin, Germany. She was awarded an exploratory research grant at the Hagley Museum & Library in Wilmington, Delaware to examine DuPont’s contribution to the textile industry, specifically the rebirth of nylon’s image post-WWII. She had her first international solo show in 2024 at ProjekTraumFN in Friedrichshafen, Germany and also received the 2024 Reed Fink Award in Southern Labor History Southern Labor Archives, Georgia State University Library. In 2025, she received a Nexus Grant from Atlanta Contemporary to further the inclusion of neon into archival photographs, as well as the Pre-Tenure Scholarly Support Grant from Georgia State University. In 2026, she spoke about her work as a panelist of “Heavy Metal: Cast Iron and the Politics of Material in Postwar Art” at the College Art Association. She was the featured artist at the 2026 Intercollegiate Pour at Carrie Furnaces with Rivers of Steel in Pittsburgh, PA, and was invited to collaborate with the resources at West Virginia University as an exhibiting Visiting Artist on their Sculpture Tour Walk.
