Maia Leppo

"I am drawn to clean, simple, somewhat industrial design that catches the eye with unexpected nuance. "

Maia Leppo has developed her style over the last few years while traveling around the country exploring new metalsmithing techniques. She brings the sublime forward by incorporating unexpected textures and geometry into otherwise subtle designs. Steel and silver are her mainstays, and though these are not new materials, her design technique has entered the modern era with digital fabrication tools.

The work is designed using a three-dimensional rendering computer program. The individual pieces are laser-cut out of carbon steel. Each piece is then hand-finished and fabricated. The black pieces are heat-treated and sealed with olive oil, and the gold pieces are plated with 24-karat gold. All ear posts and wire are sterling silver.

After graduating from Tufts University in 2008, Maia Leppo began taking metalsmithing classes at community art centers and continued her education at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and Pocosin Arts in Columbia, North Carolina. She is now a studio artist and instructor in Chicago and is working towards her MFA at SUNY New Paltz.

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Selected Exhibitions & Awards
Improper Articles, The Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2015
Staring: in Hingsight, Pinokotek Der Modern Museum, Munich, Germany, 2014
Impact, Brookline Art Center, Brookline, MA, 2015
Emergence, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC, 2015