contain anywhere from 500 to 750
individual incised grooves. An entire
piece can have tens of thousands
of these hand-cut lines. Making
these incredibly fi ne lines requires
equally fi ne hand/eye coordination
(not to mention excellent eyesight),
astonishing patience, and an artistic
sensitivity second to none.
Next, a copper rod, called a push-
er, is used with a rocking motion
to push very thin silver or gold foil
into the incised design. The idea is
to keep the underlying fabric-weave
pattern intact. The inlay is fi nished
by gently tapping the silver orgold foil with a soft wooden dowel
to make sure it’s fi rmly set in the
grooves, and then using a metal bur-
nisher to make certain that the foil is
secure. Once the foil appliqués have
been applied, extremely fi ne gold or
silver wire or other small forms cut
from gold, silver, copper, or other
metal foils are added in the same
way, again to mimic woven cloth.
Interestingly, Hallam also studied
nunome zogan metalsmithing tech-
niques with Japan’s National Living
Treasure, Kashima Ikkoku III, and his
grandson, Kashima Kazuo — with
whom Momoko studied in Japan.Needed Kickstart
After graduating with her MFA from
Japan, Momoko knew she wanted to
bring Japanese traditional techniques
to the U.S.A., so she applied for and
was accepted at Bowling Green
State University on a Presidential
Scholarship. “It was for two years and
completely paid!” She grins, then
frowns. “Grad school was really hard.
My professor was diffi cult and chal-
lenged me in so many ways.”
At Bowling Green Momoko started
experimenting with what she calls
cultural fusion. “I was fi nally meld-
ing all my experience in art and the
culture of my two ‘foreign countries’
(ha!) into very interesting stuff ,
combining Japanese metalworking,Beautiful as the fi nished work is,
watching Ford Hallam’s YouTube
video on nunome zogan — also
called damascene or gold dama-
scene — kind of makes your teeth
jitter after a while. Literally mean-
ing fabric weave or cloth inlay, nu-
nome zogan results from hand-strik-
ing minute, crosshatched lines onto
a fl at metal surface with a hammer
and chisel to mimic the warp and
weft of threads in woven fabric.
Traditional Japanese nunome zo-
gan patterns typically contain eight
to ten handmade strikes per mil-
limeter, and a single square inch canGreen Organism
Sculpture
Raised copper, electroformed
metal, fused glass and paperMoon
Incense Burner
Raised and spun brass, nunome zogan,
shakudo, silver and gold inlayWind
Incense Burner
Raised and spun 950 silver,
nunome zogan, shakudo, gold inlayFlower
Incense Burner
Raised and spun kuromido, nunome zogan,
silver and gold inlay
Kuromido: 99% copper, 1% arsenicCultural Fusion
28 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST
26 Haag_CulturalFusion_mayjune20.indd 28 3/16/20 3:38 PM