Nest Studs

Sterling Silver, 18k gold, red agate

5/8 x 1/2 inch

Our adornments are intertwined with their materials. As a jewelry artist, I merge metals, repurposed materials, wax carvings, and responsibly harvested plants through fabrication and casting. By combining carefully considered materials and traditional jewelry techniques, I create adornments that speak to how intertwined we are with our surroundings, the land, and our past.
Connection brings awe and wonder into my life and leads me to develop designs that deepen my relationship with place. This interrelatedness is a central theme in my work, seen in cast organic materials and biotic forms. Adornment is an act of conversation with ourselves and an expression of ourselves to the world around us. If our jewelry connects us to our surroundings, what do the materials of our jewelry say about how we relate to the world?

Artist Bio:
Laura Lau Klein has held creativity and adornment closely in life. Their work as a painter and regard for living spurred them to study Art History, Art, and Anthropology at the University of Delaware. Their time in university didn’t quell their curiosity but inspired it further, leading them to pursue an artist practice while traveling. Landing in Western North Carolina, Lau’s appreciation for material culture blossomed, learning natural dying and basketry, woodcarving, and silversmithing. This passion took them to Penland School of Craft, the John C. Campbell Folk School, and, most recently, the Professional Crafts program at Haywood Community College to study jewelry. Upon graduation, they were awarded the 2024 Windgate-Lamar Fellowship Award through the Center for Craft to nurture their craft practice. Lau now lives in Asheville, NC, where their jewelry and mixed media work shows a reverence for the natural world and the human role within it.