Hannah Oatman. State University of New York at New Paltz. Selected Graduate 2017

Hannah's Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis presents a fresh and sophisticated series, breathing new life into the genre of enameled jewelry. A focused exploration of structure, color and composition, this work is informed by the rather deliberate paintings of Giorgio Morandi as well as the suddenness of John Chamberlain's assemblages - the power embedded in their collision of color and form. Hannah is also a musician: her sense of timing and pace is evident in the work’s layered complexity. Throughout this series, she has deftly balanced her expressive impulse with the requirements of functionality in this fully wearable body of work. / Myra Mimlitsch-Gray