ARTIST INFO

MAIA LEPPO
Pittsburgh, PA

METALS | Jewelry

Penland Affiliation | Penland Instructor 2019, Penland Student 2010, 2011, 2013

Artist Information | Studio artist; education: MFA SUNY New Paltz, BA Tufts University; teaching: Penland, Arrowmont, Pocosin, Touchstone; exhibitions: WEAR | Contemporary Jewelry (Penland Gallery, NC), a-brooch-able (Lillstreet Art Center, IL), Art Jewelry: Strong Voices (Dedee Shattuck Gallery, MA), Graduate Show (Galerie Marzee, Netherlands), IMPACT (Brookline Arts Center, MA), Emergence (Winthrop University, SC), Improper Articles (The Greenpoint Gallery, NY), Open Engagement (Queens Museum, NY), Staring: in Hindsight (Pinokotek Der Modern Museum, Germany).

Artist Statement | My process is dictated by the limits that I place on myself: the source of inspiration, my process of design and creating, my use of materials, colors and mechanisms. My work is also drawn from the need to create volume out of flatness. By using almost exclusively steel sheet, I aim to manipulate the material to have a dimension it did not previously have. The forms are inspired by botanical elements, abstracted and simplified to their most basic shape. I design much of my work on a 3-D rendering computer program called Rhinoceros, and then I either send my work to be laser-cut, or I cut it myself. I use silicone cord, steel tubing, and wire to create the finished piece of work. I restrict my color choices to the black, white, and the terracotta color of the industrial silicone. I am interested in scale, volume, movement and repetition and how the computer can help me explore these ideas.

The resulting work is an exploration of the intersection between the botanical and the industrial. Having the work be wearable is a primary goal, but I also want to push that idea and play on the balance between overwhelming and attracting the viewer. I do not want the wearer to look at the jewelry and immediately see a specific plant or flower, but to get the feeling that one gets when seeing or being surrounded by botanicals.

Technical Information | Steel, mixed media

BRYN PERROTT
Morgantown, WV

PRINT | Graphic woodcuts

Artist Information | Studio artist; education: BFA West Virginia University; exhibitions: Rockport Center for the Arts (TX), Outré Gallery, Melbourne (Australia)

Artist Bio | Bryn Perrott lives and works in Morgantown, West Virginia. She graduated with a BFA in Printmaking from West Virginia University in 2004. Bryn’s artwork references tattoo imagery, print history, and her love of animals. Though woodcuts are her predominant medium of choice, she also paints and draws extensively. Her work is in many private collections, national and international. Bryn has worked with major touring acts, authors and companies such as Jackie O’s Brewery, Handymaam, Tommy Orange, Lucero, Laura Jane Grace, Jenny Lewis, All City Cycles and Cory Branan to design album art, t-shirts, guitar pedals, skis, prints, jewelry, coffee packaging, beer cans, book covers and more. She is often recognized by her internet identity, DeerJerk. When Bryn isn’t working on the next woodcut, she spends time with her cats, Mole and Rama, quotes Terminator and drinks coffee.