source: vivianbeer

Born: Bar Harbor, ME 1977

The evolution of my work is intimately tied with my research and exploration of the techniques, industrial processes and cultural associations of metal.

I first became interested in the material as a child. Growing up in a rural setting, I developed hand skills as part of everyday life. From this, I went on to study sculpture, introducing me to the history of metalworking within fine art. Later, working as a production blacksmith taught me a history of the decorative arts, and in graduate school I fell in love with contemporary design. Throughout, I’ve chosen metal for its rich symbolic meanings in each realm; it can function alternately as ornament, structure, and seduction in the successive guises of jewelry, sculpture, or muscle cars.

My most recent work builds on all of these associations. I employ visual cues culled from mass culture, excerpt processes from industry and patterns from the decorative arts to create handmade, one-off objects that manifest the nostalgia of history, the speed of progress and the memory of the human hand.