Many Faces
As a gay, person of color, most of my life has been a game of translation. I looked at life (and myself) through the lens of others. In my most recent series of self-portraits, I seek to explore my identity…
Plastic
BLOOM
BLOOM plays with the concept of natural flow as it permeates our world. I observe this flow in the natural, digital, and spiritual worlds. These worlds are merged by the hand to form a transcendental experience. Strings of silicone move…
Ess Stitch Brooch
Growing up I heard stories about how my grandmother supported her son, my father, during the Second World War with her needlework. Crafts such as weaving, quilt making and sewing were often designated as “women’s work” leaving much nobler artistic…
I am the North
I am the North, 2021 [Sterling silver and repurposed acrylic] [Circunis and Ursa Minor] As the needle in the compass is true to the north, what is rightfully mine is true to me. I am the North! – from Florence…
In Simulacra 1, Edition 2
This brooch is a flexible chainmaille structure of hand carved mother of pearl and vintage cutlery handles. I was initially compelled by the visual qualities of mother of pearl; the smooth, lustrous nacre being evocative of the Art Deco period…
Mare
Jowita Allen’s work focuses on recycling and upcycling non-biodegradable waste into wearable art jewelry. She uses materials such as PET plastic from discarded bottles and containers which she collects from friends, her own household and in her travels to different…
Bluebird
My jewelry illustrates emotions, experiences, and relationships through the abstraction and reconstruction of animal forms. This brooch is part of a series of bird-themed jewelry pieces that evoke feelings of love and longing. The heart-shaped birds represent the connections we…
Contemporary Mourning Brooch 2
The Contemporary Mourning Brooch Series commemorates the profound loss of life from the Covid-19 pandemic. These brooches recontextualize Victorian hair jewelry through the use of CAD/CAM technology. I recreate and then distort traditional woven hair patterns. This produces new forms…
The Package
It is an interaction between objects and myself: my work is focused on the variation and transformation of endless forms by continued use of the same artifact as a basic module. Revealing subtle layers of imperfection through painting, sanding, separating,…
Beach House (Polly Pocket)
I long to return to my childhood bedroom. The objects I surrounded myself with held incredible value and informed the person I became. I hold on to these objects still, and treasure them with the utmost importance. These relics of…
HauteboxxxSS22
Using the power of sound and music, my work becomes activated by not only the wearer, but the audience. Wearable objects that emulate surreal depictions of my own body are integrated with Bluetooth speakers that can be paired with a…
KiTTi3_B00M-B00M_WiNGZ
My work is a response to lived experiences and how they materialize as the fragmented narratives that define my Trans Non-Binary identity. Through iterative process, automatic drawing, reactive construction, and colorful surface treatments, I balance opposing entities that address the…
Heart Throb Brooch
Heart Throb Brooch is from a series of large heart themed brooches I’ve made over period of several years. Each is housed in a sculptural box thematic to the work. Hearts have always been a favorite form of personal expression,…
Reconstruction
Exploring the effects of corrosion and decay that infuses universal existence is an integral part of my work; in particular, the ways in which man-made structures are affected by time and neglect. As humans we have unrealistic expectations when it…
War and Peace Choke Her
Handmade Argentium Silver Chain Maille necklace, Chasing and Repoussé Argentium Silver Medieval Shields, Hand Fabricated 22k Gold Peace Sign and Teardrop Garnet Bezels, Wire wrapped Pearl drops and Plastic Toy Guns. Symbols, Unfortunately timeless: Chain Maille necklace- War throughout history….
big EARTH energy (rock)
Using the tactile sterility of industrial materials to offset organic forms in nature, an association is drawn between the natural and the manufactured. This comments on the imminent perishing of our natural environment due, in part, to the decisions deemed…
Microbes: Orange
My work is as much about as it is for the human body. Abstract forms refer to bacteria, viruses, cells and their structures within us. As these invisible but universal components come to define us, they also acquire cultural meaning…
Breed
The division between fiction and reality can be a struggle to distinguish. From Cabinets of Curiosity of the past to deep fakes that flood social media, people feverishly consume these fictional narratives and are often duped into believing in their…
Listening is Harder
Talking is Hard, and Listening is Harder. This piece is part of a series of non-functional vessels and explores the dichotomy of interpersonal communication, what we take in versus what we put out, and the faux pas that make us…
Sewer, trash and street02
The inspiration for this work comes from a Japanese novel No Longer Human. The story chronicles the miserable and despairing life stories of Ōba Yōzō from his early childhood to his late twenties. However, I find his sensitive, pure, and…
Excoriate
My work shows the dualities of protection and restraint, alongside a desire to shed restrictions. A sense of vulnerability lies at the center of this protection and is shown to always be something that is obscured or unavailable. Thinly networked…
Draugr
I make talismanic objects for use in ritual mediation. This ring, Draugr, is meant to be worn and the gemstones rubbed to enter into a liminal meditative state. This process is similar to mala beads or rosary beads, intending to…
Diagnostic Earrings
Diagnostic Earrings are made from plastic armatures from used rapid antigen Covid tests, shrouded in monochrome lycra and embellished with beads. This work explores the gravity of throwaway objects that contain the possibility to grant or deny freedom. The somber…
Fantastical Blooms 2
Orange and Pink Brooch/Necklace My Art Jewelry has always been about texture, metal and mixed media. My favorite tool is my jewelers saw; sawing requires great focus and never fails to bring me to my Zen state. I am inspired…