Seeing Stars by Amelia Toelke

Artist list

Amelia Toelke

Most often representing animals, a mythological person or creature, or a god, constellations have been used throughout time to tell stories of creation and belief and to help us physically navigate across the globe.
Charm bracelets function similarly. As we collect charms that symbolize experiences or rites of passage, the charm bracelet stands in as a personal timeline, again, helping us make sense of something as abstract and esoteric as the meaning of life. Amelia Toelke's limited edition series, Seeing Stars, plays with the format of charm bracelets to make wearable versions of constellations. These miniature maps of the universe are like personal compasses that connect us to the past and orientate us in the present.


Amelia Toelke’s diverse art practice draws on her training in jewelry and metalsmithing yet transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. A combination of sculpture, collage, and installation, Toelke’s work lies at the intersection of the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional, and challenges are given conceptions of an object, image, reality, and representation. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz’s bachelors’ program in Jewelry and Metals and with an MFA from University of Wisconsin at Madison, Amelia was selected as an artist in residence at Lanzhou City University in Lanzhou, China in 2015. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Brush Creek Center for the Arts in Saratoga, Wyoming, participated in the international exhibition and art symposium in Tbilisi, Georgia, and most recently hosted a workshop at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Amelia is currently working on a book of drawings and writings incorporating the world-renowned jewelry collection at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and a collaborative project focused on the use of jewelry and adornment as a tool for action and protest. Amelia strongly believes that jewelry can and should bring joy.