Anya Weitzman is a regular during Open Studio sessions, and also a recent addition to the team of local instructors here at SCC. ?Within the past year, she?s launched a jewelry line, which has really taken off. ?Learn more about Anya below!
What brought you to the Studio at SCC?
After losing access to my university?s metals studio upon graduating, I needed a place with good facilities that I could use on a regular basis.? I?d worked in a friend?s studio for a time, but it wasn?t a permanent solution; no one wants to be a long term imposition on a friend!? A former professor told me to check out the studio at SCC, and it turned out to have all the equipment that I need to fill my jewelry orders and make my work.? Now, even though I have most of the equipment I need in my own studio, I keep coming back to SCC to spend time with the other artists who work there, get feedback, and get inspired by seeing what everyone else is working on.
Can you tell us a little about what influences your work, or what themes reoccur in your work?
My background is in sculpture and cultural anthropology, so I approach jewelry making and metalworking as a sculptor, and much of my work is influenced by anthropological research.? I love studying the anthropology of fashion, and I?m dedicated to making jewelry that conveys and bolsters the wearer?s confidence and empowerment.? With this goal in mind, my jewelry often has recurring themes of gender, human anatomy, witchcraft, and the occult, all bound together by my love of minimalist modern design.
What is the favorite piece that you?ve created within the past year, and why?
That?s really hard to decide.? I?m pretty pleased with everything I?ve been creating lately, haha! ?If I had to pick something, I would say that I particularly enjoyed my collaborative jewelry line ?BEASTS? made with two local artists: animator and video artist Michael Pisano, and painter and printmaker Chris Mucci.? The collaboration brought great fresh energy to my artist practice, and seeing their complex 2D designs come into tactile 3D space was personally satisfying.
I?m also excited to announce that I?ll soon be releasing some new work made in collaboration with Adrienne Rozzi of Poison Apple Print Shop.
Which Contemporary Craft workshop have you taken, that has been the most influential to your work?
It?s definitely a tie between Tara Locklear?s concrete casting workshop and Davuit Alexander?s jewelry in steel workshop.? Those two workshops in using alternative materials in jewelry making were incredibly inspiring and generated a lot of new ideas for me, in addition to introducing me to new artists!
You can check out more of Anya?s work at her website:
And of course, sign up for her Adjustable Rings workshop in October:
http://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ws.asp?studioid=23447&stype=-8&sView=day&sTrn=100000125
