Wk 5- Artist Conversation-Kristi Jensen

Artist:  Kristi Jensen
Exhibition: FUSE: join or blend to form a single entity
Media: Jewelry, sculpting, enamel works, and mixed media
Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Gatov Gallery East
Website: none
Instagram: whipperton

This weeks exhibit was a collection of artists who used materials and techniques developed from the curriculum in the Metals and Jewelry program at CSULB. Featured in the collection and the creator of FUSE, Kristi Jensen, was available to talk this week.

Kristi is a Senior here at Long Beach and is an undergrad in Metals and Jewels. She is a returning student who used to be a flight attendant. After graduating, she hopes to make a living incorporating what she has learned here at CSULB instead of sitting in an office job. She began as a sculptor major but realized that she wasn’t fond of conceptual art. She then switched to metals and jewels and is currently focusing on jewelry.

She describes her work to follow a curving linear form and likes to work with jewels and silver the most. Her projects usually take three weeks from start to finish. She explained that first, they sketch out their project then create it using paper, since it behaves closest to metal. After the sketching and planning steps, they create their metal pieces. She mostly works with copper, which is cheaper, and sometimes silver, which is easier to work with but more expensive.

Ironically, Kristi only occasionally wears her own jewelry but loves simply working with metals since they can be broken down and put back together to form something completely new. She mentioned that her inspiration formed from seeing her grandpa fix TVs and the process he incorporated into his job such as being self taught and reassembling pieces. She is currently working on table projects so that the item her jewelry is displayed on, is her handmade work as well.

I personally loved the pieces and the way each one had their own unique structure. I liked the fact that even if a piece was made by the same artist, each piece would have a different look and shape. I also liked how the pieces resembled jewelry you would see in fashion stores but more dramatic in shape, which made it unique.