Throughout history, metalsmithing has resulted in the creation of practical objects: eating and drinking utensils, horseshoes, and jewelry. The "Five in One" metals exhibit, in the Zoller Gallery through March 4, gives a new use to metal.

"People are producing things that go beyond utilitarian function," said Leslie Leupp, curator of the exhibit.

Leupp, an associate professor in the School of Visual Arts, said the artists use their materials to express individuality, personality, and social and political concerns.

"A lot of the work is narrative. It tells stories. It talks about particular experiences the artist may have experienced in life," Leupp said.

The exhibition features five artists working in one media: Mac McCall, Helen Shirk, Christina Smith, Linda Threadgill and Kate Wagle.

McCall said his art is based on personal experience, and much of it involves situations that occur in relation to landscape. Living in the western United States and Japan has influenced his work a great deal, he said.

McCall said the objects in the pieces fit together differently for him than they may for someone else.

"The sculptural pieces are about something. Some of the clues are hopefully more obvious, and some in them are less obvious," McCall said. "I'm not trying to tell someone how to feel about them."

Smith, an artist from Fullerton, Calif., is presenting a number of brooches made of silver and polychromed plastic. She too said her work expresses personal experience, with some relating to her culture. Pieces such as "Flipper Did My Wash" and "40% Over a Year" are self-portraits, depicting memories of her first year of marriage. Others, such as "Toxic Amputation," are more political in nature.

Threadgill, an East Troy, Wis. artist, is exhibiting wall sculptures constructed of non-ferrous metals such as brass, copper, pewter and bronze. The sculptures have been photo etched with patterns or images. Photo etching is a process by which an image is developed onto the surface of the metal.

"The sculptures center (on) the importance of home community, belonging and personal commitment, in an effort to transform ordinary experience into the extraordinary," Threadgill said in a prepared statement.

Shirk, from San Diego, is presenting several vessels constructed during the past five years that demonstrate how her interest has changed in this time period. She said the earlier works are more aggressive and have vibrant colors while the later works have less color and look more delicate.

Wagle's work consists of abstracted floral pieces. She said she uses flowers to symbolize life events such as celebrations of love and ceremonies of death. Wedding bouquets, flowers on a grave, and one's first corsage are themes she said she explores in her work.

"I think of my jewelry as sculpture. It relates to body as sculpture relates to any other sight, except that it is more meaningful on the body because you are making the commitment to wearing that aesthetic statement," Wagle said.

Leupp said he chose these particular artists because they present diverse directions of expression and because the quality of their work is excellent.

Smith, a professor at Cypress College, Pasadena City College, and Orange Coast College, was recently awarded a Western Art Federation/NEA Regional Fellowship for the Visual Arts. Threadgill was awarded fellowships from the Florida Fine Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Shirk, who studied in Denmark, is a professor at San Diego State University. She has received an NEA Visual Artist Fellowship and a Craftsmen Fellowship. Wagle is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and McCall is currently a studio artist in Berkeley, Calif.

Zoller Gallery is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.