aKresse Jewelry Design

aKresse Jewelry Design

aKresse Jewelry Design

About The Artist

Alice Kresse • Bethesda, MD

Jewelry • WHOLESALE AVAILABLE • CUSTOM COMMISSIONS

I make paper jewelry. It's considered an alternative medium for jewelry but for me it's a logical choice. I was a graphic designer and art director in the news and publishing industries for 34 years. Before that, I earned a BFA in printmaking - and I still make prints. I love paper. The pieces are fabricated from my handprinted and painted papers. The substrates are sturdy 'washable' paper, and polyester combined with sterling silver, resin and stainless steel. The feel is edgy but lighthearted.

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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

I fabricate all my work at my home studio and have no assistants. I hand print my papers at Pyramid Atlantic, a community art center in Hyattsville, Md. that is dedicated to printmaking, paper making, and book arts. My pieces are assembled using traditional jewelry making techniques including piercing, soldering and cold connections. Sterling silver is the predominant metal.

What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

One of the things I like about using silicone rubber, epoxy resin, and paper is that new materials often require different tools and techniques. Although I often use traditional tools and techniques, I usually modify them to fit my material. Plus, how many jewelry makers get to use an etching press in their work? I enjoy trying to figure out how to turn an inexpensive 'unsexy' material into something grand.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

People often get the material wrong. Epoxy resin can look like wax; if it's cast into a mold it can look like a rock or a hunk of mineral. Paper can be made out of polypropylene. What seems to be printed leather is paper. What looks like leather is really ultra suede. Whatever my material, the resulting piece is always remarkably lightweight.