Professional Blends

My works explore personal ties to my living environment and need for comfort. Comfort is something that I often think about because I spent so much of my life feeling uncomfortable in my mind and body. My works consist of many materials, but I mainly work in metals and wood, and my process relies heavily on hands-on experimentation. I’ve had experience crafting, but I have never been so meticulous with my work before now. One of the works I included is a domed ring that mocks the shape of a pillowy or cushioned object even though it is made of metal. Another work is a jewelry box that looks like a couch, made to keep personal items. There is humor that can be found in this piece due to it being a place to keep personal items, but a couch is typically where you would lose such items. While I take being an artist seriously, I do not think all of your artwork has to be serious. These works represent my personality and show the absurdist and ironic side of me. There is humor that can be found throughout all of these pieces. The nostalgic aspect of the pieces also helps convey a sense of contentedness and comfort throughout these works. My influences within the design world have impacted how I view making art. Wharton Essherick stated “If it isn’t fun, it isn’t worth doing,” and those are words that I stand by wholeheartedly. I don’t think that being an artist should be seen as a job you have to perform, you should be having fun and making things that speak to you as a person. Angela Delarmente created works with metals and speaks on how she enjoys being able to take such a hard material and bend and shape it to soft, intricate designs. That outlook on metalsmithing has shaped the way I look at metalsmithing.