Description
“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.” – Maia Leppo
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
