AJF’s Young Artist Award advances the careers of rising artists, acknowledging promise, innovation, and individuality. The work of the winner and four finalists represents a group of outstanding pieces of contemporary jewelry. As a finalist, Hoffman received an unrestricted cash award of US$1,000 and exhibited his work in Platina’s booth at the Messe during Munich’s jewelry week.
AJF asked this year’s honorees to describe their backgrounds and share their thoughts on the future of our field. This is the final interview.
- Read the interview with winner Bryan Parnham here.
- The one with Margo Csipö is here.
- We spoke with Corrina Goutos here.
- Aaron Decker answered out questions here.
This year’s jurors were 2022 AJF Artist Award winner Mallory Weston (from the US); collector and gallerist Atty Tantivit (Thailand); and maker Ted Noten (Netherlands). The Young Artist Award competition was open to makers of wearable art age 35 and under who were not enrolled in a professional training program at the time. Judging was based on originality, depth of concept, and quality of craftsmanship.
AJF: Congratulations on being a finalist for the Young Artist Award competition—that’s quite an accomplishment, Everett! How did you become interested in jewelry? And what inspires your work?
Everett Hoffman: I became interested in art jewelry by accident. I was initially a political science major with an art minor. I went into [a full] introduction to jewelry class taught by Anika Smulovitz hoping that someone would drop out the first day. I was lucky that someone was a no-show, and I got a bench in the class. There was something about using the jeweler’s saw for the first time and annealing metal that made sense. From there, I took jewelry and metals classes until I finally switched my major.
There are many inspirations for my work on a conceptual and visual lexicon. I’ve been interested in queer theory and, in the particular contemporary world, what queerness can be. I go back to Jack Halberstam’s and José Esteban Muñoz’s writings quite a bit. Most recently, I’ve been inspired by literature, the writings of W. G. Sebald, Walt Whitman, and Gertrude Stein—the idea of the everyday and how we see the world around us. That has been infatuation regarding how we see the world physically and digitally. Of course, I’m always inspired by rhinestones, costume jewelry, and the queen Dolly Parton.
AJF: What does being a finalist mean for you?
Everett Hoffman: One of the biggest things about being a finalist for the Young Artist Award is a recognition that the work I am making is connecting with people. It can feel like a validation that I am on the right path. So often as artists, we apply for opportunities, and it can be a crap shoot. There is some chance of randomness, which can be up to how the jurors felt that day.
I feel honored to be a finalist. One of the biggest things about [it] was that it allowed me to go to Munich for the first time during Jewelry Week. Since I started making jewelry, I have wanted to go to Munich Jewelry Week; the opportunity to go to Munich this year was a wonderful experience.
AJF: Tell us about the work you applied with.
Everett Hoffman: Zinc and stainless steel are metals often associated with industrial applications, functioning as corrosive-resistant materials that we overlook as we pass by day to day. These humble metals are used as substrates to display vintage rhinestones that have been meticulously set into place. Each hand-cut zinc setting creates a new avenue for viewing the unnoticed metal. The bedazzled surface encrusted with rhinestones offers a new point of view, challenging the status quo of material hierarchy.
AJF: Please tell us more about of the pieces you applied with.
Everett Hoffman: I made Double Circle while I was an artist-in-residence at Penland School of Craft. I was particularly inspired by Lucy Sarneel, whose work I’ve admired from afar for a long time. I had been setting rhinestones in zinc for a while, partly inspired by her use of the industrial material. I was working in my studio, thinking about Sarneel’s work, her use of color, and the repetition of form. I wanted to try to create something with the rhinestones that was uniquely mine but in dialogue with the work that was influential to me.
This piece started by creating a paper layout. I traced the stone pattern on a zinc sheet and pierced all the settings. Each stone has three to four prongs individually cut out and filed. It’s a process that takes a lot of time and patience. This time lets me think about the piece and process what it will be. If I mess up one prong, I have to start all over again. To challenge myself, I was interested in how many stones I could fit onto one zinc sheet—re-creating a pavé effect but with only tabs.
All the stones I use are vintage rhinestones. It’s important that I use stones that already exist and have had a life. When I first get the vintage rhinestones, I take the foil off the back to make them translucent, partly because I like that look better. But taking the foil off makes the stones less sparkly. I wanted to give them back their sparkle, so I riveted the zinc sheet with the rhinestones onto a mirrored piece of stainless steel. The mirror helps to reflect light and create that “sparkle” we associate with faceted gemstones.
For me it’s about how to take minimal materials like zinc and stainless steel and make something complex and exciting. I think that’s what drew me to Sarneel’s work and my hope of connecting to that inspiration.
AJF: What excites you about the art jewelry field?
Everett Hoffman: The people. It can be such a kind and supportive community.
AJF: Where do you think the field is going? What new and exciting trends do you see in art jewelry?
Everett Hoffman: The field is in a state of transition, especially in states where more jewelry programs at universities are closing. There is a shift happening at many academic institutions, and the art jewelry field is trying to figure out what the future looks like. As an artist who works in art jewelry/sculpture and design, [I see] the field moving more toward a cross-disciplinary approach, no longer siloed into just jewelry but [bringing] the language of jewelry and the historical discourse into other modes of making. It’s an exciting time to be an artist, especially in the jewelry and craft world.
AJF: Any frustrations that you have with the field?
Everett Hoffman: The hierarchy and need for validation through traditional academic, museum, and gallery institutions.
AJF: Where would you like to be five years from now?
Everett Hoffman: My plan is in flux at the moment. My practice will look different in five years. I go through my bi-yearly declaration of not wanting to make jewelry, which lasts about a month, before returning because I love it. Ideally, in five years I’ll still be making work. People will be interested in it, and I won’t be tired of stone setting.
Thank you for taking the time to tell us about yourself and your practice. And, again, congratulations!
