Emilie Pritchard

"I seem to exist at the intersection of jewelry and architecture. I love the way I can create complex geometric forms to build a piece that is light and airy and at the same time big in impact."

A new approach to beadwork allows Emilie Pritchard to create minimalist, structural jewelry with a strong mathematical base. Pieces can be inspired by architectural forms as well as those from the microscopic world, like carbon nanotubes and other molecular forms.

Pritchard uses metal tubes, mostly sterling silver and 14k gold fill, as beads. She cuts these tubes to the lengths needed to make the geometry work. She oxidizes the silver tubes to darken them as this enhances the bridge-truss-ish look of the work. The tubes are then joined with a needle and thread to build polygons, which are then combined into complex 3D structures.

A self-taught artist, Pritchard came to this body of work in an unusual way. For years she was a weaver, creating geometrically patterned rugs. Her time working in a flat medium created the impetus to try 3D work, and that has led to her structural jewelry. Her work has been shown at venues and in galleries around the country, including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.