Anastasia Azure - Artist in Residence / Fibers
Email: anastasia@forgedfiber.net

Accentuating Focus | 2006 Monofilament, copper and brass 7” H x 7”W x 3”D

Attract Inside Out | 2007 Monofilament, copper and brass pendant: 1 ¼ ” H x 1”W x 1 ½ ”D necklace: 16” L

Fleur-de-Lis Bangle | 2007 Monofilament, copper and brass 3 ½” H x 3 ½ ”W x ¾ ”D

Biography
Anastasia is in her third year as the Fibers Artist in Residence at the Appalachian Center for Craft.  She completed the Graduate Jeweler Diploma Program at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Art in San Francisco in 2001.  In 2005, she graduated from the California College of Arts and Crafts with a BFA in metals. 

Her work has won many awards, most recently second prize in the Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild juried exhibition, “Fiber Fantasia.”  American Style magazine featured her in “Emerging Artists 2007: 10 to Watch.”  Two bracelets were 2007 Niche award finalists in the categories of Fashion Jewelry and Handwoven Fiber. In 2005, the Bay Area Metal Arts Guild awarded her an Emerging Artist Grant.  Her artwork is published in books and magazines as well as exhibited internationally.

Artist Statement
By interlacing textiles with jewelry metal arts, I combine an ancient cloth-making technique known as double-weave with metalsmithing and contemporary materials to create dimensional-weave jewelry.  The beauty of geometry and the gracefulness of intersecting planes are expressed through undulating forms of metal, fiber and monofilament. 

Weaving embodies rhythm and order.  The jewelry is hand-woven using a traditional floor loom and often complimented with fold-formed metal and set stones.  The use of wire and monofilament bring flexibility and strength to the primary structure, whereas fiber provides warmth.  Color also adds vitality to the artwork.  The softness of fiber, the durability of metal, and the luminosity of monofilament come together as multilayered woven adornment.

My work revolves around the universal circle.  The sinuous lines and curves of my jewelry express moving energy.  The seamless continuity of a circle offers containment, protection, and geometric perfection, while representing oneness and dynamic balance.  An eternal fascination with linear elements motivates my creative exploration of materials and techniques.  The innumerable combinations of interlocking strands drive my investigation of form, structure and volume.

View Anastasia's website: www.forgedfiber.net