Neogem Drop Heart/Star Earrings

acrylic, sterling silver, brass, faux silver, laminate

2.5 x 1.5 x .25 inches

Ashley’s work focuses on image, pattern and decoration in order to reference ornamentation and historical jewelry. As a maker, it is her intention to challenge the conventions of handmade jewelry through the use of traditional and non-traditional materials as well as new approaches to design and surface decoration. Utilizing silhouettes allows her to reduce historical images down to their most basic form and reference the history of jewelry with a clean, contemporary aesthetic. This is reinforced through the use of powder coating, a process commonly used on an industrial scale to coat or color large metal objects with a durable, uniform finish. The use of repeated iconic imagery has proved to be very important to her work and in her most recent pieces, she has been exaggerating simple motifs such as teardrops, ovals and chain links while including hints of decoration in order to create pieces that are less recognizable than traditional silhouettes but maintain a familiar identity between the viewer/wearer and the object.

Artist bio:
Ashley Buchanan has a BFA in Jewelry/Metalsmithing and makes her living as a studio jeweler in Atlanta, GA. She has exhibited her work here and abroad and participates in high end craft shows around the US, where she’s received multiple awards of excellence. Her work has been featured in two 500 Series books, Ornament Magazine, Metalsmith & in American Craft as a short-listed artist for the Emerging Voices Award. When making her powder coated, metal jewelry she focuses on image, pattern, and decoration in order to reference ornamentation and historical jewelry. Ashley’s goal is to participate in the field Craft with a fresh voice by creating wearable works of art that push the boundaries of jewelry while maintaining a clean, contemporary aesthetic.