Textiles and Metalsmithing with Heather Nuber

How did you get your start in making jewelry?

I was very lucky and grew up in a school district that had a great art program. From middle school I was able to start doing metal work along with all the classics like painting, drawing, and woodwork. In high school I was able to be an ”art major” and have two art classes back to back. In that, there was an instructor that taught jewelry-making and metalsmithing, and I fell in love with it then. I went off to school and I was on a double BFA track doing metalsmithing and drawing/painting. I didn’t finish that degree, so when I left school I was just doing beading because I was young and didn’t have the tools to do anything else. Then I kind of got away from it, and 20 years later I went back to school and I decided to finish my art degree and do social work. I got back into the studio and I was like “I don’t ever want to do anything else ever again”, and I committed to it and dove headlong into metalsmithing. I decided I was going to work really hard and just make it happen.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be?

Anne Hamilton. I am obsessed with her and her installation work. The logistics of how she makes these grand installations, I just want to be in that world.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

I have an overarching theme of relationships- human interactions are my biggest inspiration. Early on, I was really influenced by my grandma’s aesthetic. I was trying to sort of adapt her style into the contemporary style.

What is your favorite piece that you’ve made?

My favorite piece was called “How Close”, which was a brooch that included a tiny quilt in the center with windows. You had to look through the windows in the piece in order to see the quilt, so it had volume, color, textiles, all in one.

How does your personal story show up in your work?

My personal story kind of runs all through my work. The influence of my grandmother and that relationship really guided things aesthetically, with quilting and textiles. How I maneuver through the world and deal with relationships is always at the forefront of the work that I make. Even though I’m making jewelry all the time and people might look at it and think it’s just a piece of jewelry, when I’m making it I’m thinking about all of these things constantly.