EAST Interview: Talkin' Trash and Treasure with Jaime Jo Fisher

Jaime Jo Fisher can be considered a small-scale contemporary metal sculptor. Although she works with traditional silversmithing techniques to mostly create jewelry, her end product often resembles a fine piece of wearable contemporary art. The jeweler extraordinaire fittingly thinks of her pieces as wearable collages - much of Fisher's work includes found objects and re-purposed materials. Along with traditional stones, vintage beads, and polymer clay, Fisher has been known to incorporate broken bits of a reflector, pieces of shells found on the beach, and even dryer lint into her ornate and modern jewelry. Jaime Jo Fisher is participating in this weekend's East Austin Studio Tour, stop by her space at 5609 Steven Creek Way to see her collection of found materials and how she turns them into wearable art.

I love the description of your jewelry as “wearable collages.” How do you know when such disparate materials work together in a piece? Is there a trial-and-error element involved, or do the fragments come together more spontaneously in a unique whole?

The inspiration for my work begins with color and texture. My studio workspace is surrounded by containers and picture frames that all have potential collected, found, and purchased materials arranged into what I consider their appropriate color families. Imagine each frame or container is a stripe in the rainbow and houses a specific color of objects accordingly. As each piece begins, I am thinking about objects that have the same color or slightly varying hues of the same color to begin composing the disparate pieces together. The “story” or “history”, of the “stone”, the vintage or found nature, as well as the texture and surface finish are all considered when selecting the materials. My creation process is very organic as I combine and mix and match materials until they have an overall harmony.

What objects or materials have surprised you most in your work so far?

The plastic material used in my line of pillow pieces, such as the tiered pillow earrings and pillow brooches are all made from repurposed plastic. Items that were once shower curtains, rain ponchos, or a child’s pool toy are cut, hand sewn into pillows and transformed into a completely new identity. The plastic is one of my favorite materials to use. I love the idea of an item that was once practical and completely functional evolving into a funky wearable piece of jewelry with an edge of humor. My creative process comes full circle when my work evokes interaction between the wearer and viewer.

Are there any assorted objects you always keep around, just in case?

I have a stash of Cabbage Patch Kid doll shoes, vintage sequins and vintage glass cabochons, found orange reflectors, limpet shells, a few thrift store plastic flower vases in choice colors that I will cut a piece from and use periodically, a collection of gifted or found coral, several bags of rubber grapes in red, black and acid green, as well as bags of collected goodies from travels of close friends and family, just to name a few.