I create seductive, wearable objects combining jewelry techniques with chain mail to caress the female body. As a child, I was taught to be quiet and not express myself even though I noticed creativity flowing through my grandmothers fingers in the form of quilt-making. I find my voice when I create art through the meditative state of linking one ring at a time. When knitted with thin metal wire and small rings this masculine, war-like material becomes extremely soft and flowing. The ritual of laying the transparent veil of chain mail on a woman invokes a sense of security and a feeling of empowerment. My creations are a merging of art and history in the intimate setting of a woman’s body.

Lately, I’ve become fascinated with the color and pattern of chain mail. I was reminded of the quilt squares my grandmother Minnie always had sitting by her chair. These thoughts led to a series of wall pieces relating to a quilt square format. “Legacy” being the first in the series, a pattern created using bright colors similar to hers. Translating the material to a wall format has opened a whole new venue for my art with new directions. 

An international, award winning metal/jewelry artist with a Master of Fine Arts degree from Illinois State University. Her work has been featured at the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Through the Ojai Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, “The Triangle Dress was displayed at SOFA Chicago in 2018. She was featured in Intersection: Art & Life by Kevin Wallace published by Schiffer Publishing in 2018 and Chain Mail Jewelry by Terry Taylor and Dylon Whyte published by Lark Books in 2006,. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and  newspapers. 

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