Shelby Goldsmith
Geometric Brooch Set I, 2022
Sterling Silver, black druzy, Oxidized finish
2.75 x 1"

Artist Bio

Shelby Goldsmith is a metalsmith and jewelry artist, working from her home studio in Saco, ME. She earned her BFA in Metalsmithing & Jewelry from Maine College of Art [& Design] in 2014. She served for five years as secretary to The Metals Collective: A Portland based group of makers whose mission is to promote the craft of metalsmithing & jewelry through collaboration and public engagement. In 2017 she was awarded the Belvedere Fund, a MECA[&D] alumni professional development grant, which she used to purchase a torch and ventilation system for her home studio. Shelby participated in the 2020 Maine Craft Apprentice Program, during which she spent 100 hours working with and learning from her mentor j.e. paterak. In 2021 she undertook training to become a death doula & end-of-life planner, as well as a hospice volunteer. She currently practices both metalsmithing and deathwork, often combining the two.

Artist Statement

Inspired and informed by sentimental jewelry throughout history, I offer my contemporary take. I utilize a dark, limited color palette of stones and oxidized metal to create modern mourning jewelry. Moving away from the morbid motifs common in memento mori (remember death) jewelry, my most recent body of work employs the letter X as a non-traditional symbol of death. Derived from the 1932 film Scarface, where a cinematic X motif is used as a harbinger of death, an X appears as each character meets their death. The shape provides a departure point from which to design from by endlessly multiplying and manipulating it. The finished work abstracts the dark context behind it, often utilizing asymmetry and movement to create elegant jewelry that is playful and dynamic.