Denise Fletcher

As a jewelry artist, I use metalworking techniques as a form of personal expression. Jewelry is a form of wearable art, and I create with this in mind. It is an extension of the wearers’ personality, which I impart my own personality into.

Throughout my creative journey, I have been drawn to both the properties and impressions of silver and gold. The malleability of these metals allows me to craft unique and captivating jewelry. Through annealing, I shape, texture and manipulate their forms to fashion contemporary, wearable, and durable designs. Characterized by clean lines, and traditional shapes modernized by negative space, I find much of my work strikes a balance between simplicity and intricacy. I find I balance contrast in my creative process and in the jewelry itself.

I start with an idea, drawn from ambiguous collections of shapes and forms I observe abstractly. As I gaze into a bowl of discarded wire and shorn metals, I interpret the unique silhouettes that appear to me, living dualistically as its own form amidst the random. Through this, I divine my next piece. Sometimes I may even add more metal into this stew of shapes and ideas. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv5POY9tkxA/

Rarely do I alter the configuration that appears to me. I remove the art that has revealed itself from the scrap heap, and I immediately begin creating its new vessel. I fabricate its’ form, introducing elements I purely visualize as to breathe a bit of my own creative life into it.

I saw, I forge, I shape, solder, and fuse. I hammer texture. I oxidize. I polish, I sand and finish. I set stones, drill pearls, and adorn the piece with gems. By doing this, I give the piece its’ beating heart, a piece of myself, endowing it with its’ own personality and flair.

The shape, form, color, and texture of my work reflects my own reverie. I intend my work to intuitively resonate with the wearers’ pneuma as well; my jewelry is made to allow the wearer to express their individuality and boost their confidence, as each of my designs is meant to be as unique.