Jennifer Crupi is the unconventional metalsmith who, for the past 25 years, has been exploring the nuances of human gesture and non-verbal behaviour via her arrestingly beautiful works in metal.

Growing up in Latest Jersey, arts and craft supplies were a firm fixture in Crupi’s household. “My mother gets credit for fostering my creativity,” she says, while her father “gets credit for helping me develop technical skills”, having routinely assisted him on household projects. “I used to be his assistant on many household projects and ended up sharing his love of tools and dealing with my hands.” After which there’s her sister, whose large collection of jewelry could be credited with fostering Crupi’s interest in metalwork, a lot in order that she decided to pursue it as a profession.

Honing her skills at The Cooper Union School of Art, followed by a master’s degree at SUNY, The College at Latest Paltz, Crupi has spent the last twenty years transforming on a regular basis metals into exquisite works of wearable art.

Like beautiful weapons of torture, Crupi’s devices distort the human body into surreal gestures – a commentary on the subtleties of non-verbal behaviour which make up 85 percent of our communication. Using the facility of body language, Crupi believes “we will read and be read by others more effectively — which makes for higher communication.” When worn, her work forces the human body into various unusual gestures that may then be interpreted, understood and translated into various different meanings. Take “Figure One”, from her Ornamental Hands (2010) series, for instance. When worn, the metal handpiece fixes the hand in a “perpetually graceful state”, a meditation on the extremes one might go to so as to attain beauty.

Over the course of her profession, Crupi’s work has been showcased at over 75 national and international exhibitions, including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., Museum of Arts and Design in Latest York and DOX Centre of Contemporary Art, Prague. She is currently a Professor of Tremendous Arts at Kean University. We caught up along with her to search out out more about her work.

Were you usually making things as a baby?
Jennifer Crupi: My parents were each teachers, so education and the thrill of learning were at all times emphasised in our household. My mother never let my sisters and I actually have colouring books or kits; we were at all times encouraged to develop our own creations. Persistently once I saw something I wanted or liked, my father’s response was simply “we will make that!” And we normally did.

How did you get into metalwork, specifically?
Jennifer Crupi: Originally I assumed I desired to concentrate on illustration or drawing. Nevertheless, once I used to be introduced to the handmade, one-of-a-kind jewellery my sister began collecting, I used to be intrigued and commenced experimenting with metal myself. I mainly studied graphic design at The Cooper Union School of Art but I took elective classes in metals at Parsons School of Design. I loved metals a lot I went right on to review for my MFA.

Your work focuses on the intricacies of gesture, posture and non-verbal human behaviour, where does that interest come from?
Jennifer Crupi: It was while I used to be studying for my MFA that I started to take into consideration how I could make my work have a greater connection to the body. Having at all times been enthusiastic about psychology (I considered it casually as a profession at one point), I began investigating the theme of movement and have become intrigued within the nuances of non-verbal behaviour, posture, and gesture. I actually have since been fascinated with the sector and am at all times absorbing information by just being more aware of the people around me and the way they’re communicating with their bodies and reacting to me and my postures.

What’s the foremost message you want to your audience to remove out of your art?
Jennifer Crupi: I would love viewers to come back away from my work considering twice about what their bodies and others are saying. Studies show that 85 percent of our communication is non-verbal. With the widespread use of email, social networks, and texting, true one-on-one interpersonal communication is fading and our more honest and authentic feelings are being neglected. All of my pieces indicate various gestures or postures and their associated meanings within the hope viewers will realise the importance of how our bodies speak for us.

What are among the reactions you’ve gotten had towards your pieces?
Jennifer Crupi: I strive for my work to have meaning and be thought-provoking. The wonderful thing about art is that it may possibly connect with the viewer and incite quite a lot of responses depending on what the viewer brings to it. Some have told me my work scares them; others can’t wait to try a chunk on and wear it. Persistently I’m told that seeing my work has made someone more aware of body language and that now he or she will’t help but notice it on a regular basis. By becoming aware of body language, we will read and be read by others more effectively — which makes for higher communication.

How do you come to generate ideas in your pieces, reminiscent of the Ornamental Hands series?
Jennifer Crupi: The Ornamental Hands series references the elegant hand positions often seen in historic artworks throughout the centuries. I assumed back to my art history classes and remembered iconic works like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and other similar paintings and sculptures. Regardless of what the figures can be doing within the greater context (some being battle or death scenes) the artist couldn’t help but make their hands beautiful. Each work consists of splint-like attachments for the fingers which are suspended by chains and braced on the wrist, positioning the hands marionette style. The resulting works are a play on precious jewellery, but the actual decorative ornament is the gesture. Somewhat than wearing a bracelet to adorn your hand, why not wear a bracelet that positions your hand in an ornamental and stylish way? Restricting the usage of your hand in order that it may possibly be in a perpetually graceful state can also be my commentary on the extremes one might go to so as to attain beauty. Initially coming to mind within the conceptualisation of the series were corsets and other restrictive beauty aids. The pictures of the historic paintings indicate how these ideals of beauty have been with us for hundreds of years.

What do you concentrate on the long run of beauty and the way it can be represented in art?
Jennifer Crupi: Capturing beauty, in its many forms, has long been a goal of many artists and I’m sure it can proceed to be an aspiration in the long run — whether that message is shared by viewing works in galleries/museums or experiencing them virtually. Nevertheless, unlike other art forms, jewellery could be worn, carried with us, seen by others and subsequently, has a novel relationship to the body. Artists, including myself, are drawn to make the most of that unique experiential feature.

What are you working on without delay?
Jennifer Crupi: I actually have began a latest series titled Contact. I’m enthusiastic about what it means to have true physical contact with one other person. With a lot of our communication with one another being distant and thru digital tools, I would like to reassess the importance of touch with a series of works for 2 people who concentrate on reassuring contact. These wearable works can have a tool-like aesthetic and I’m experimenting with rubber plastisol dip (colored rubber coating traditionally used for the handles of pliers, clamps, etc) which can be used together with the silver.