Michele Wyckoff Smith
We have 25 pieces of Michele's work available in the gallery.
After studying Art History at Tulane University, New Orleans in 1983, Michele completed a Studio Painting Degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996. She then studied Jewellery Design and Structured Jewellery in London and today works from her studio in Crouch End, North London.
Michele is inspired by textures and shapes from rusting and twisted bits of metal to organic motifs and pebbles found in the world around us. She translates the surfaces and shapes created by the ravages of time into bold and simple forms in precious metals and gemstones. Her designs begin in numerous ways either with abstract drawings, paper constructions, looking at found objects or the manipulation of metal pieces.
Michele reacts to the beauty of the materials, shapes and textures. Therefore hand carved pieces of wax evolve into silver or gold rings that are miniature sculptures worn on the body. By embracing this technique of reaction, she then develops the surprises into more complex pieces. Other times, she abandons the piece, only to find it later and incorporate it into another piece. Some of these discoveries become part of her repertoire; others occasionally cannot be replicated.
Michele exhibits her work throughout the United Kingdom