Sandy Swirnoff | Mingei International Museum
Purple Hat Dance (detail), Sandy Swirnoff, (*), 2014, San Diego, California, nylon thread, ceramic bead, enameled beads, onyx beads. Collection of the Artist. Photo by Katie Gardner
Image: Purple Hat Dance (detail), Sandy Swirnoff, (*), 2014, San Diego, California, nylon thread, ceramic bead, enameled beads, onyx beads. Collection of the Artist. Photo by Katie Gardner
On View

Jan 14 - Jun 4, 2017

Curated By

Christine Knoke Hietbrink

Mingei International Museum premieres the first public exhibition of fiber jewelry artist, Sandy Swirnoff. Sandy creates intricately knotted fiber necklaces and other jewelry that incorporates fragments of Art Nouveau glass.

Sandy Swirnoff (b. 1939) began creating knotted fiber jewelry in the early 1990s. Working with antique glass shards from the famed companies of Peynaud, Daum, Galle and Tiffany, she creates unique works of art that merge the old with the new. Swirnoff builds a custom beaded bezel and mount for each irregularly shaped glass piece and combines it with various beads including glass seed beads, vintage and Czech glass beads, freshwater pearls, Carnelian, Serpentine, amber and turquoise. Her knotting process, a form of macramé, is spontaneous and her designs are free form. This exhibition will feature approximately 30 necklaces and bracelets that reveal the artist’s passion for nature, color, and texture.