South Carolina designer Kate Furman describes her “perfectly imperfect” jewelry as rustic with a refined feel. Artist: Born and raised in Greenville, SC, Furman graduated with a BFA from the University of Georgia in Jewelry and Metalworking. She went on to earn an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design in Jewelry and Metalsmithing. Between…
Although Steve Heine never practiced traditional architecture, the Kentucky native thinks of his modern, multi-layered artwork as architecture on a small scale. Artist: One of nine kids and the second-born of identical twins, Heine grew up in a loud, raucous house in Louisville. He later graduated from the University of Kentucky’s College of Architecture in…
At a young age, Stephanie Firestone enjoyed flipping through her father’s college textbook on human anatomy. Today, the Virginia-based artist creates intriguing, semi-abstract sculptures of human figures. Artist: Born in Detroit, MI, Firestone grew up in Chevy Chase, MD, where her father worked in advertising in the DC metro area and had a small painting…
Tennessee-based sculptor Kyle Cottier combines traditional textile and woodworking techniques in his mindful practice. Artist: Born and grew up in Louisville, KY. In a high school magnet program, Cottier began spending a lot of time in the art annex. Often, he was in in the darkroom developing film, or in the printmaking lab preparing silkscreens…
North Carolina’s Casey Engel works in ceramics, textiles and printmaking. She is proof an artist doesn’t have to choose one medium to express herself. Artist: Born and raised in Pensacola, FL, Engel earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015. After college, she worked in a commercial frame shop in…
In her figurative and abstract paintings, Atlanta’s Paula Henderson examines social dynamics. In one direction, her work explores how the impact of the beauty industry shapes women’s lives. In another series, Henderson utilizes shoe patterns on the ground to explore ideas of shared space and social unity. Artist: Born and grew up in the Boston…
In his jewelry work, North Carolina’s Matthew Smith draws on his background in graphic design and his appreciation of mid-century modern style. Artist: Born and raised in Columbus, OH, Smith graduated with a BFA from Wake Forest University, where he focused on printmaking and sculpture. For 20 years, he worked as a freelance graphic designer, but…
South Carolina’s Katie Kameen takes secondhand objects, like plastic plates and children’s toys, and playfully reinvents them as wearable sculptures. Artist: The Illinois native was born and grew up in Peoria. She earned a BFA in 3-D studio art at Eastern Illinois University (EIU) and her MFA in metalsmithing and jewelry design from Indiana University (IU).…
Stephen Dorsett makes sculptures of miniature landscapes from consumer waste. Then photographs them. The Kentucky native describes his work as a meditation on consumerism and the environment. Artist: Dorsett was born and grew up in Louisville, KY. He graduated in 1999 with a BA in studio art, with a focus on drawing, painting and sculpture,…
To explore color and pattern, North Carolina’s Shane Fero takes a painterly approach to his sculptural glass birds and vessels. Artist: Born in Chicago, Fero’s family moved to Winter Haven, FL, in 1967. About a half-mile from his home, was the flameworking shop of Bob and Marie Howell, part of a well-known itinerant family of…