I use basic materials that define space: steel chain and short lengths of steel wire. The structures are minimal, spacious, without complexity. Despite the geometry and material, they are not hard pieces.
Softness enters the pieces as they drape and conform to the environment they interact with, the gentle pull of gravity, the planar surfaces of a table, the curves of the body. There is a delicacy in the line and in the structure, but these flexible perimeters create their own spaces, capturing a moment within their curves and edges.
These pieces stand alone, but they interact and still maintain their individuality. They leave room for interpretation, creating space for the viewer to exist. I am interested in the variety that one piece, one simple structure, can contain. How does the piece maintain its own perimeters no matter how it is pushed or pulled, draped or stretched…even when a human form is inserted into the space.
Rebekah Frank received her Master of Fine Arts in Jewelry/Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2012 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jewelry/Metalsmithing from Texas State University in 2010. Her chosen material is steel, a fascination discovered through a challenge received when she was 18. Her creative practice has focused on that material ever since, working as a blacksmith, a welder, a machinist, and, currently, a jeweler. She explores themes of protection, vulnerability, and boundaries in her work. Rebekah’s studio practice is based in the Mission District of San Francisco, CA, and she exhibits, lectures, and teaches workshops all over the world.
In addition to her art practice, Rebekah writes about artists whose work has a strong material focus. As a queer artist herself, she specifically enjoys writing about other queer artists to celebrate their experience and process. Her articles have published on Art Jewelry Forum, Metalsmith Magazine, and Surface Design Journal, as well as in international exhibition catalogs.
