Oral history interview with Eugene Pijanowski
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 5 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 55 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Pijanowski, Eugene, 1938-
label: Interviewer
content: Fisch, Arline M.
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Pijanowski, Hiroko Sato, 1942-
topic: label: Topic
content: Metal-workers -- Hawaii -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Jewelers -- Hawaii -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Metal-work
label: Topic
content: Jewelry making
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Pijanowski, Eugene, 1938-
label: Interviewer
content: Fisch, Arline M.
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Eugene Pijanowski (1938- ) is a metalsmith from Honolulu, Hawaii. Arline M. Fisch is a jeweler.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 92 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2003 May 13-14
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.pijanoe03
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Eugene Pijanowski conducted 2003 May 13-14, by Arline M. Fisch, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Pijanowski speaks of his childhood in suburban Detroit; his experience as a projectionist at the Marine Corp's Camp Pendleton; studying at Wayne State University in Detroit, Oxbow Summer School in Saugatuck, and Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he met his wife Hiroko Sato; he discusses moving to Japan, where he studied at Geidai and Sophia University in Tokyo, and worked at Renown Clothing; moving back to the U.S.; his teaching positions at San Diego State University, Purdue University, and University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; he comments on his administrative role at University of Michigan; his experience teaching workshops; his research on Japanese metal work, specifically mokume gane and its influence on western metalsmithing; he recalls his Fulbright in Vienna; the exchange between University of Michigan and Seika Art School in Kyoto, Japan; he discusses his studio production; how he is not interested in exhibiting; how objective critiques are missing in the field; nature as a source of inspiration; the east/west theme of his work; he speaks specifically of his series "Gentle Solitude," "Amaryllis," "Maple Seed," and "I am Precious;" the limited value of publications, exhibitions, and organizations; he discuss his relationship with galleries; the importance of teaching; grants, honors, and other accomplishments; and his current projects in Honolulu. In addition to his long professional and personal relationship with Hiroko Sato Pijanowski, Eugene Pijanowski recalls Philip Fike, Richard Thomas, Mr. Hiramatsu, Arline M. Fisch, Bruce Metcalf, Onno Boekhoudt, Inge Asenbaum, Helen Drutt, Hermann Junger, Ian Ferguson, and others.