My Work melds the historical and traditional aspects of the metalsmithing craft with contemporary forms and modern technical processes. In each piece of art, I try to create a visual rhythm through the use of negative space and repeating angles. Space and weight are balanced and counterbalanced.

I draw on my academic training in metalsmithing for centuries-old techniques of soldering, forming, and fabricating. At the same time, I use photoetching, the industrial process that is the backbone of the micro circuitry industry, as an integral part of the design phase.

Whether using my own computer generated drawings, archival photographs, or satellite imagery, my goal is to achieve a timelessness in both form and image, while still retaining the warm and appealing qualities of the metal. My continuing sources of inspiration are the artists and architects of the Russian avant-garde era in the 1920’s, who were known as the “Constructivists.” In particular, the work of Ivan Leonidov and El Lissitzky have challenged and influenced my design philosophy. I also see contemporary architecture as a fertile source of new expressions of space, line, and volume.

Ron Hinton metalsmith & sculptor

* All of Ron Hinton’s sculptural container forms have a hinged lid and are interestingly formed and finished on the inside also. The top of the lids have been etched so that the image is tactile. These images are: (Horizontal Stack) a photo of stacked metal transformed into an abstraction, (Chimney Tops of Tavira) artist’s photo of Tavira, Portugal, (San Gimignano) artist’s photo of San Gimignano, Italy, (The Salzburg Slide) antique map of Salzburg, Austria area, (Vortex) aerial photo of Lake Travis near Austin, (Migration) aerial photo of Cheyenne Bottoms in Kansas. The rest of the lids have a computer generated image by the artist as the etching.