Senior Thesis Exhibition
This body of jewelry serves as the last set of metal objects made in college, as well as the jumping off point for my work as an artist and designer outside of school. I look at this as both exploratory in designs and techniques. I am inquisitive and scientific by nature, leading me to always want to try something new within my artwork. While exploring the new, I always look to the past as well as the contemporary.
The shapes and forms are inspired primarily by art deco, bauhaus, and design of the mid-twentieth century. I find the clean geometry of these design periods interesting and appealing because of how beautiful a simple shape can be. I attempt not to recreate what has been done before me, but to create my own interpretation; I make something new. My interest in modernist design stems from a course I took my junior year, History of 3D Design. It was the first time I had a lot of exposure to three dimensional and functional art/design work. Instantly I found myself drawn to art deco and the Bauhaus, along with the majority of twentieth century functional design.
By working on the jewelry scale I am able to use the process of casting, something I instantly clicked with. To me, the ability to make multiples of one thing is exciting. I also enjoy the process of going from wax models to molds to a metal version of the same thing. Granted it seems more like middle school science at times, I think that is part of its appeal.
All of the techniques I have learned will stay with me as I head out into the world of working as an artist. The abilities to solder, fabricate hinges and closures, forge, set stones, cast, and all the rest are still growing but provide me a strong baseline. In this body of work, I produced sets and individual pieces of wearable yet unique jewelry. I hope to continue pushing what I can make my functional art do, be it for the everyday use or for exhibition.
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