lghtly hmmrd



lghtly hmmrd

About The Artist

L M deLeon • El Cerrito, CA
Jewelry • WHOLESALE AVAILABLE • CUSTOM COMMISSIONS

Currently located in the SF Bay Area & living my best life dancing in the liminal space between dichotomies. I'm fascinated by items cast off from industrial practice & tidbits of nature. As a magpie for that which glitters, has bold shapes or bright color, what I collect, is incorporated into each piece becomes a love song to the city, to nature. Strung taut between fascination of human ingenuity, bemused by societal proclivity for generating detritus & my awe of the slower pace of the seasons, nature's cyclical deconstruction in which nothing is wasted. In my struggle to conceptualize my work I aim to be bolder in self expression, to embody loudness without saying a word, & highlight all that I observe in myself, in others & our surroundings. To celebrate what is cast aside or a remnant of a whole. One fateful semester in college had me falling in love with metals in Dawn Nakaishi's Jewelry/Small Scale Metalsmithing class. I've since built a home studio in which I explore adornment.



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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

A heavy gauge copper or brass wire framework is wrapped in colorful telecommunication wire. Detailed elements such as hand crocheted cording dyed to match, capping in sterling, decorative knotting and beaded tassels are incorporated. Each piece is made with one or more of the following materials: Heavy gauge copper or brass wire (the framework from which I build) Plastic coated telecommunication wire (rescued from the freeway shoulder and plastic content unknown) Cotton crochet thread primarily sourced from second-hand supply (thrifted, estate sales and antique) and hand dyed by me Sterling Silver Glass beads and/or precious stone beads. The small collection of glass beads was "borrowed" from my mother - she purchased a small supply to make earrings and necklaces in the 80's. I added to the collection precious stone beads in the early 2000's when I started doing metals work.


What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

In our society we have an overabundance of resources and this particular material for the Color Bound series, telecommunication wire, was sourced from the highway median. A huge pile and I am determined to use every bit and let nothing go to waste. The parameters of this challenge keep me exploring and my mind engaged while I seek ways to work with the material.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

"Color Bound" accurately describes the method used to build the pieces and more figuratively is an invitation of an unusually chromatic palette into our adornment without abandoning the use of traditional metalsmithing and jewelry techniques in fabrication.